Extended Family
by littlesolo
Summary: Brass's ward visits. Sara/Sofia. Contains FF
1. Chapter 1

AN: I own nothing. Not CSI or X-MEN. So no suing.

It had been a long day. Make that a long night. Blame it on the moon or on the fact that the house always wins. Whatever the reason, it had caused the crazies to come out. On the plus side, all three murders that had happened tonight were open and shut, it was just a matter of gathering all the evidence.

"Let me go! That bastard got what he deserved! I did nothing wrong!"

"Course not. We're just taking issue with the five bullet holes you put in the guy" said Brass as he led the suspect to the patrol car. "I've had if with all these idiots, Sofie"

"Good thing all we have to do is write up our reports and then we're done for the night".

"I'm SO, glad it's the end of shift" said Greg as he and Sara loaded up the truck.

"You know what? We've all worked hard today. Why don't we all take the rest of the week off."

"It's Friday, Jim" replied Sofia with a smirk.

"So it is. I'll see you all on Monday then."

"Wait, does that mean you're not going to join us for breakfast?" asked Sara.

"Nah. My charge is flying in today and I gotta go see if I can find keys to the her car and place"

"Wait. _You're _some kid's legal guardian?"

"Wow Greg. Way to sound supportive." remarked Sara as she gave Greg a shove.

"Eh, I needed support earlier. Now she's twenty-four and not such a hassle" said Jim with a grin.

"How'd you become her guardian ?"

"l was working a case where her mother had been killed for supporting mutants."

"Still. Shouldn't she have just been put in foster care?" asked Greg.

"Eh, probably, if she didn't always take off after getting settled in. She'd show up back at the station about two hours later. So after the third try, I offered to be her guardian. Then I got in touch with Emma Frost. I got it set up so that she went to school in Boston and then spent summers here. Tell you what, I'll bring her tomorrow so she can meet my two favorite girls."

At this point both Sara and Sofia blushed while Greg pouted.

"What about me? Can I meet her too?"

"Sure thing, Greg. I just don't consider you one of my girls, that's all"

TBC


	2. Meeting the Kid

AN: Wrote the first version apparently with to little sleep. Anyway, I didn't like it so here's a new version.

* * *

The next night the group was called out to the home of a suspect. So far, all of the evidence pointed to Derek Cassidy and inside his trailer, god willing, they would find what they needed to put Cassidy away.

"So, what are we waiting for exactly?" asked Nick. He, along with Sara. Greg, and Sofia had been waiting for ten minutes to get to their scene.  
"When Wendy ran the DNA it showed that this guy is a level three mutant. Since we don't know what his power is, the mutant unit had to be called in to clear it."explained Sofia as she leaned against the van watching the scene. Taking note of the two ambulances waiting with them, Sara was more than happy to have someone else deal with any problems.

Then, Cassidy was being taken to the transport van. As the CSIs made their way towards the trailer, Sofia noticed on of the officers taking Cassidy make some comment. One of the officers from the Mutant Unit stopped the CSIs. "I'm Detective Soto. I'm sorry but you can't come near the scene until the suspect is away from the scene." Suddenly, Derek Cassidy shoved the officer into the side of the van with his shoulder. "Shit! I told him to use the mutant cuffs..."  
Suddenly, the ground began to shake and Cassidy stomps the ground and a wave ripples over ground sending the officers flying backwards. Detective Soto went flying and hit her head on the edge of one of the ambulance doors. One of the other Mutant detectives shoved Cassidy into the van and recuffed him.  
Picking themselves up, the CSIs received the ok and went to collect their evidence.

Luckily, Cassidy was as smart as he looked and had left the murder weapon in plain sight. The team was in and out in an hour. While loading up the van, Sara noticed Jim approaching one of the ambulances. "Sofia, did you call Brass?" Receiving a no, she and Sofia made their way over. Detective Soto was being treated for a large cut on her head.  
"What happened to you?" sighed Jim. Having not been noticed yet the CSIs took the opportunity to observe the interaction. Glancing at Jim around the EMT, Soto responded "Nothing, I...um... fell. That's all." Her tone revealed that she didn't really expect Jim to buy her excuse, just hoping he'd let it slide.  
"Into a car door" supplied the EMT, which earned a sigh from Jim and a glare aimed at the EMT.  
"So why am I here?"  
"Det. Soto sustained a concussion and..."  
"I should have guessed. Ah, we're familiar with concussion procedure. What's this one? Your fifth?"  
"Hey! This is work related! Totally doesn't count" she replied crossing here arms.  
"Right. Sure. A concussion on the job is much better than on a skateboard. Oh, hey Sofie."  
"What's with all the smirks? Why are they smirking?"  
Witnessing the banter, Sara and Sofia exchanged knowing looks. Both had been on the receiving end of Jim's fatherly side before. Jim treated all the CSIs like they were family but had a soft spot for Sara and Sofia. It was probably was the only reason Sofia let Jim get away with calling her "Sofie".  
"Look, you got a ride home?"  
"No, Kyle left with Cassidy and is going to come back for the car later."  
Turning to the CSIs, Jim made quick introductions. "I'd like you all to meet Chris Soto, my charge."  
"Are we still on for breakfast?" asked Greg with an excited smile.  
"Nah, I think..."  
"Sure!" interupted Chris. "I've got a craving for some pancakes."

TBC...


	3. Breakfast and a New Case

AN: I'm swiping Gibbs from NCIS but I still don't own anything.

--

Once everyone had placed their orders, Jim decided to get right down to why it was that Chris was here. As much as he loved her, he knew from job experience that most twenty year olds came to Vegas to hit the casinos, and that wasn't her idea of fun. "So, what brings you to Vegas, Chris? And where's your other half? Your better half." By this time the orders had been brought to the table and Chris was wasting no time with her pancakes.

"Actually, I've been working here on and off for the past three months. I've been helping set up a Mutant Unit here and flying back and forth to DC for meetings. Now that this program is set up I'll be working here. Marion is busy helping set up a boarding school for Emma." replied Chris as she wiped the syrup from her chin.

"So now you head up that unit?" asked Sofia with a raised eyebrow. Regardless of how well she had been trained, Chris was still very young to be given such a high ranking position.

"Nah, I'm a foot soldier like you guys now. After I got things running they brought down the necessary bureaucrats needed to muck things up and keep me in check, of course." Chris replied with a cynical smile as she reached for her coffee cup.

"Naturally." Jim agreed as well as Sofia with a nod. They knew how things worked. A police force couldn't possibly function without at least three guys heading up things that were making wrong decisions and were more worried about kissing up and covering their asses. It was just how things worked. Jim smiled as he watched Chris chat with Sara, Greg, Nick, and Sofia. It looked like she wouldn't have too much trouble fitting in. His eye were then drawn to her half full coffee cup. She filled the remaining half with creamer and then proceeded to add packet after packet of sugar. Moments like this reminded him that despite how much she'd grown up, she was still young at heart. Chris caught him looking and quirked a eyebrow. "What?"

"That... drink... is now more sugar and cream than it is coffee. How many sugars is that? Six?"

"Gibbs doesn't like my coffee choice either. How many other people do you know that drink it black?" Seeing Sara, Sofia, and Greg raise their cups, Nick hid his grin behind his. "Okay" Chris continued, unwilling to back down, "but you all also drink different types of coffee and sometimes tea right? Well aside from an occasional different kind, Jim and Gibbs only drink regular black coffee." Jim shrugged "Why mess with what works?"

"See. It's answers like that that make me want to call it an 'old person thing' but seeing as how the rest of this group isn't old, I'll call it an 'old Marine thing." Chris said with a smirk.

At that moment everyone's cell phone seemed to go off. "I hate it when kids are involved" muttered Sara as everyone quickly paided their bill and made their way to their vans.

"I'll meet you guys there. I gotta make a run to the gas station next door" said Chris as she left.

Making their way to the vans, Greg asked if anyone else was coming. "Catherine and Warrick are meeting us at the scene. Grissom is stuck in some meeting" replied Nick. Greg sighed "Looks like we're all pulling double shifts."

"Well, it can't be good if they need all of us" said Sara as she closed her door.


	4. Judy and Peter Hathawy

AN: No spoilers for CSI but there are spoilers for the end of THE GOLDEN COMPASS novel.

Arriving at the scene, Sara, Nick, and Greg walked over to meet Catherine and get their assignments. "Okay you guys. Nick, you take the outside and Greg you help Warrick inside. Sara, you, Sofia and I will deal with the kids" ordered Catherine with a sigh. Sara walked over to wait with Sofia while Catherine got more details from Jim.

"Hey. I, uh got your coffee to go for you." said Sofia as she handed Sara a to go cup.

"Um, thanks." Something about Sofia always made Sara nervous. Her heartbeat increased and she fumbled with what to say, which usually made her say the wrong thing. But it didn't make her a scared nervous. Sara admitted she often avoided the blonde but it was because she did know why she felt nervous. She stole a quick glance at Sofia as Catherine walked towards them. Despite the long night they had just worked, Sofia still looked alert and ready to go. Although, if her fidgeting with her coffee cup was any indication, maybe she felt nervous too?

"Okay, here's what we know. 14 year old Judy Hathaway and eight year old brother Peter, saw their uncle meeting with some mob guys and they saw something they shouldn't have. Inside looks like your standard Russian mob hit on the parents. It looks like someone called for help and that kept the kids from getting too hurt. The boy is fine but the girl took a tumble down the stairs and is pretty banged up." While Catherine had been talking they had all noticed the boy standing next to Chris. He flinched every time a male officer passed behind him and took a sip from a large to go coffee cup every few words. Chris pointed towards Sara and Sofia and Peter shrunk back behind her and whispered something. Chris gave him a smile and tapped the top of his coffee cup and started to walk him over. "I'm going to go with this other lady and talk to your sister ok?" asked Chris as they got closer. At Peter's nod Catherine made her way towards the ambulance with Chris. As Catherine pasted Peter, she smiled, but both Sara and Sofia caught the peculiar expression on her face.

Sara told Peter he could sit on the edge of the van if it would make him more comfortable. Seeing how the back doors were open, it would let him sit comfortably and the way it was turned, would spare him the sight of his parents being wheeled out in body bags. Once he turned around she and Sofia saw the milk mustache on his lip. "What are you drinking there?" asked Sara in a gentle tone.

"Chocolate milk. It makes me fit in." replied Peter taking another sip.

"Really? How's that?" asked Sofia.

Peter fiddle with the cup that looked huge in his small hands while he explained. "I thought everyone here has a gun but Chris said that wasn't true. She says everyone is drinking coffee. So she gave me chocolate milk. She says in this cup no one can tell." Sara and Sofia exchanged a smile after glancing at the cups they held.

"My friend Sara needs to look at your hands but while she does, why don't you tell me what happened." Sofia smiled as she pulled out her notebook and leaned against the van next to Peter.

"I only need one hand at a time so you can keep drinking your coffee" said Sara with a wink and getting a small smile from Peter.

The life seemed to go out of Peter's eyes. "I didn't see much. There was a loud crash and I heard I Mom and Dad start to yell and then there were to loud bangs. Then Judy said to hide. I hid under my bed and then a man came in. All I saw was his shoes. They were all shiny. Then Chris was there and she said it was okay to come out."

Catherine and Chris made there way over to the ambulance. In the back sat Judy Hathaway reading what looked to be a battered copy of The Golden Compass.

"How can she just be reading after her parents were killed?" asked Catherine.

"By acting as if business is normal is her way of not dealing with the trauma right now." replied Chris with a shrug. Chris moved to sit next to Judy and gestured towards her book. "I like that book too. I have the movie too. I can bring it by the hospital if you want to watch it." Judy abruptly closed the book and glared at Chris.

"The book is much better than the movie. And using the movie to fake an interest in me is just sad." Catherine sighed. This was going to be tough. Lindsey was also 14 and getting anything more than a yes or no answer out of her was like pulling teeth. Chris didn't seemed bothered by her response at all though. If anything she just made herself more comfortable. "How pissed would you have been if they killed Roger and then ended the movie like they do in the book?" A look of surprise passed over Judy's face and then she nodded. "Can you tell me what happened while my friend Catherine checks for any evidence on you?"

 Judy held out her arms like Catherine asked. "I was in the living room reading when I heard the back door break in. Then I heard Mom ask what was going on and Dad tell Uncle Nate that he told him to stay away. Then there were two gun shots and I grabbed my book and ran to keep Peter safe. I don't know why I took my book. I tried to go upstairs to get to Peter, I thought we could go out the window in his room. There's a tree right outside his window. We used it to surprise Mom on her birthday by getting the cake before the delivery guy rang the doorbell." Shaking her head clear, she continued. "I was going up the stairs when a guy grabbed my ankle. He tried to pull me down the stairs and I fell and rolled past him. I can turn invisible so I used my powers and hid in the corner of the living room until the cops came." Chris finished up her notes and then looked at Judy. "Okay, so now you and your brother are going to the hospital and my friend Rob is going to look after you and make sure you guys don't have any problems. I'll drop by later and bring the movie by."

Once the Hathaway's were safely on their way, Nick and the others explained that the evidence went what Judy and Peter had said. Sara closed the door to the van and turned towards Chris and the others. "So what happens to them now?"

"Now, we have a guard posted to make sure their Uncle doesn't get to them. I'll see if I can get an emergency guardian appointed." At this point a guy tapped her on her shoulder and made his way towards the car. He about 5'8" with brown spiked hair. "That's Kyle. I'll introduce him better later but right now he's done two shifts running on nothing more than a few cups of coffee. I'm going to drop the grumpy-bottom off. I'll see you guys later." After saying goodbye Sara realized that the vans were gone. Nick and Greg left first together and Catherine must have caught a ride back with Warrick. "Hey, Sofia, can I get a ride back with you?"

"Sure." Maybe on the way she could figure out this nervousness thing.


	5. Evidence Sharing

PART 5- Evidence Sharing

The next night, Ecklie announced to the team that they would be working with Mutant Unit. "I expect _complete_ cooperation in this case." Moments later Chris and Kyle walked in. "Grissom I don't think you've had the chance to meet Detectives Christiana Soto and Kyle Sciuto."

Once Ecklie left, the team got down to business. "So, we first thought this was a Russian mob hit because that was what it was made to look like." started Nick.

"They used ammo that we circulated in an undercover job with the Russians a while back. These guys did their research to throw us off" Sofia chimed in.

Kyle settled himself into a near by chair. "We figured it was fake. You have any ideas as to who's really behind it?"

"Uh, yeah" Nick pulled out a picture of the back door. "The back door was shoved in by someone using their shoulder. However, this person's shoulder left a deep imprint in the door. We got a good cast of what looks to be a metal shoulder." Chris sighed and motioned for them to continue. Greg quickly flipped through the folder he was carrying. "Um, it looks like one of the intruders walked through the blood in the kitchen. I followed one trail upstairs and it looks like there was a small scuffle on the stairs and then it continues into the boy's room. I got some blood from the kids at the hospital to compare to scene. Just to rule their blood out." Greg looked like he was trying to keep from bouncing in excitement, and failing at it. "So I ran their DNA and it looks like both kids are mutants."

"Yeah, the girl told us she was." interjected Catherine.

"Oh." Greg pouted for a moment before resuming his excited bouncing. "But, did you know that the boy is a level 5 mutant?" Greg's grin got wider when he saw Chris's head jerk up. Grissom sat up straighter and looked at the two new detectives. "Do we know what his powers are?" Chris shook her head. "I dropped by earlier and Peter having a bit of trouble."

"What kind of trouble?" asked Sara. Grissom made a mental note of her interest. He knew that cases involving children got to her. While she was always driven, these cases sometimes clouded her judgement.

"Peter's scared and from what you said" she motioned towards Nick, "it looks like he has reason to be. He refuses to leave Judy's side. I left them a few movies to watch. Hopefully, it'll get him to relax a little, knowing that we won't separate them and that he's safe."

"Was there any hint of what his powers were in the house?" asked Kyle.

Warrick shook his head. "There were a lot of parenting books about how to deal with kids developing mutant powers. None of them said what the kids powers were though. I did get three sets of footprints though. Two size nines and a size ten."

"What about the kids? We get anything from them?" ask Grissom.

"Got some of the mom's blood on the girl. Probably from transfer from one of the guys. We'll see what we get back from it" commented Catherine. Sara finished up the group report. "Nothing on the boy."

"So, what can you guys tell us?" asked Jim. He was comforted by the fact that he was working with Chris. It got rid of the pissing contest and who-got-the-collar problems that he normally ran into with other cops.

Kyle scratched the back of his head. "The arm print was probably left by a mutant with Colossus powers. Which means this guy has superhuman strength, stamina, and durability. The print was caused when he turned himself into organic steel to break the door."

"I take it that's as bad as it sounds" asked Sofia. A run in with a guy made of steel with super strength wasn't what she was looking forward to since she doubted he'd just give himself up.

"A little bit worse. The fact that he broke in the door without shattering it means that this guy isn't just some brute. He's already figured out his powers and has fine tuned them."

"How did you know that the scene wasn't a hit?" asked Grissom. Chris smirked. "The only thing these guys did right was using the Russian ammo." Kyle pointed at the footprint photos sitting in front of Warrick. "The scene was too messy. The Russians hire a pro when they want someone taken out. A one person job and they wouldn't have left it half done. If the kids were supposed to be killed, they would have been."

"We think the kids were supposed to be kidnaped not killed. Pro or not, seeing Judy on the stairs, the guy could have taken his shot and been done with it. Instead he grabs her."

"Either way, we have an officer guarding their room at all times. Now, we just have to figure out who these guys are before they try again."


	6. Powers and Files

PART 6- Powers and Files

AN: If my Marines info is wrong, oh well. Just go with it.

--

"Who's looking after the kids?" asked Sofia.

"That's where Ms. Raven comes in" said Ecklie from the door way. Next to Ecklie stood a woman about 5'4" with long brown hair, green eyes, and light olive skin. "Ms. Marion Raven represents Emma Frost's mutant boarding school. She has been appointed as the Hathaway's guardian and has agreed to help us in anyway she can."

In his head, Grissom tried to place her ancestry out of habit. Upon meeting Christiana, he felt pretty sure she was of Central American descent, but Marion was harder to place.

Shaking Ecklie's hand with a smile she sat down on the couch next to Chris. Sara's frown of disgust at having to work with one of Ecklie's pals was replaced with a smirk at the sight of Marion wiping her hand on the arm of Chris's jacket after Ecklie left.

"Aw, come on! That's how you get kiss-up cooties!" complained Chris.

"Exactly why I don't want them on me." replied Marion. Grissom's eyes darted between two. "I'm guessing there's something here that the rest of us are missing?" Jim threw a questioning glance at Chris, who just shrugged. "I _may_ have called Emma last night to help get us a friendly guardian." Jim chuckled.

"Chris and Marion's parents were best friends and these two have known each other forever." The two Mutant detectives shared a conspiratorial grin with Marion.

"So what did Emma say?" asked Kyle.

"Judy and Peter Hathaway are now the school's responsibility. Since it's a boarding school, the kids can live and attend school there under a scholarship. The only problem is that Judy can't be released from the hospital for at least another day or two."

Sofia got up to refill her coffee cup. "Did you find out what the boy's powers are?"

"Peter can manipulate sound waves and mess with another mutant's powers."

Warrick leaned back in his chair. "Exactly the _wrong_ type of mutant powers to have in Vegas."

"I need to run by the house and pick up somethings for the kids" said Marion getting up. "Nick, Sara, why don't you go along to see if Chris and Kyle pick on anything we might have missed."

"Sofie, you too. Maybe we'll get some hint as to whether or not the other guys were mutants." added Jim. As they began to leave, Marion noticed Grissom giving her an odd look. "Did you have something you wanted to ask me?"

"I'm sorry, but your features are very unique. I can make out a few Irish features but the rest I can't place." Marion relaxed and gave a small smile. "My mother was French and my father was Irish. It means I have tan enough skin to keep me from being pale and I don't burn" she joked, "It used to throw my Anthropology professor as well." Grissom gave a small nod. Having solved that little puzzle, his mind was already back on the case.

--

With the others gone, Ecklie came back in carrying a few folders. "Here are the files on the mutant detectives." Before Grissom, Jim, or Catherine could ask what was going on, Ecklie continued. "We need to know exactly what kind of mutants we're working with."

"So, we're supposed to just invaded their privacy" commented Warrick.

"Look, it's in everyone's best interest. They have your files, it's equal disclosure." and with that, Ecklie left before they could say anything else. Greg sent a quick text to Sara. Catherine sighed and flipped open Chris's file, intending to just skim it so that she could say she read it but something caught her eye. "Hey Jim, this says Chris used to be in the Marines. A reconnaissance specialist." Jim grinned and refilled his cup. Greg and Warrick had been on their way to check on their tests but stopped at hearing this.

'Gibbs and I were in the Marines with Chris's dad. She was a handful growing up, so after her third broken arm from skateboarding, Gibbs decided to give her something better to do with her summer. She hung out on base all the time, so he put her through basic training."

"He put her through Marine training?" asked Grissom over the tops of his glasses. Jim nodded. "Yup. She decided to go on through MOS training. Six months later she fractured her skull after using her new skills to pull off bigger skateboard stunts."

"What about college?" asked Catherine.

"She went and got a degree in Mutant Studies with a focus on Children. She was only in the Marines a year, Marion and Kyle stayed a little longer. Marion was a Gunnery Sergeant and Kyle was a Rifleman."

--

**At the Scene**

Sara flipped her phone closed and turned to Chris. "So, uh, they just dropped of your files at the lab."

Kyle rolled his eyes. "That way you know what to look out for in case we turn on you." He gave Nick and Sofia a wry smile. "You can just _feel_ the trust." Chris continued to look at the books on the shelves. "They dropped off your files yesterday." Sara swallowed nervously. Her past wasn't something that she felt comfortable with people knowing. The only people on the team that knew were Grissom, who she told, and Sofia, who found out during her investigation but had thankfully never brought it up. Grissom didn't hold it against her unless she "became too involved" in a case. Chris's next comment pulled her from her thoughts. "We gave them back this morning. You need to know about us. Anything you feel we need to know about you, you can tell us. I'm checking the upstairs."

Nick felt a little confused. "So you want us to read your files?" Kyle nodded and turned from looking at the blood spatter with Sofia to face Nick. "That way you know our powers and capabilities" Seeing Nick still look confused, Marion explained while she wrote down the medications Judy and Peter were taking. "Say, we're attacked. I won't have time to tell you that I have telekinesis and can manipulate shadows, so don't get in the way. Also, I don't think they have my file." Nodding, Nick resumed his analysis of the stairway. Suddenly, there was a crash in the living room. Sofia and the others ran to the living room to find that a flaming crate had been thrown through the window. Chris raised her hand towards and as if she was reaching for it and the flames flew towards her hand and went out. She and Kyle then raced outside to where yelling could be heard. Sofia and the others gathered their things and made their way to the cars.

"Shit" muttered Kyle. Gathered around the front of the house was what looked to be a local mutant gang. "We don't want any mutant that can mess with our powers here."

"You all need to leave now" announced Kyle. One of the other gang members brandished a Molotov waiting to be lit. "You guys are going to need more than badges to help you." One of the others shot a spike from his arm and into his arm while the others closed in. Sofia had pulled a shot gun from her car and was calling for help when a large flame shot out of Chris's left hand and in between her and the gang.

"As I said, you are going to want to leave now. And before you light that, she won't hesitate to make it blow up." Kyle and Chris kept their guns trained on them as the gang started to leave. Suddenly, one of them spun around and shot a spike towards Chris. Chris then shot a blast of heat towards him, sending him flying backwards. As the other members ran off Kyle went over and cuffed the dazed idiot. Nick and the others made their way over. "Hey, your face-" exclaimed Nick sounding stunned. The spike had grazed her face and what was a large gash, was no rapidly healing. "Looks like this just got a lot more complicated." Once additional officers came to guard the scene the team made their way back to the lab.


	7. The Attack

PART 7- The Attack

AN: Decided that this takes place after Werewolves. Also the power suppressing drugs are like the darts from the third XMEN movie but short lasting.

--

Chris walked into the break room just as Brass finished talking to Sara and Greg. Greg's eyes widened. "Dude, what happened to you're neck? It looks like you were darted and released." Chris smirked. "You're not too off base. After giving my report on what happened, they stuck me with those power suppressing drugs. It's the equivalent of them taking my gun after a shoot. It was a good shoot, but it still has to be cleared and until then I can't use my powers. It should wear off in a few days."

"I was just telling Sara that Marion called and said the kids are being released tonight. She's at the school setting things up. She said Peter remembered something to tell Sara, so-" said Jim as he looked at Chris's neck. Chris turned to Sara. "Is it okay if I ride with you? Kyle has the car."

"Wait, what happened to your car? Please don't say an accident" interjected Jim.

Chris held up her hands. "Nothing happened. The fan belt just broke. I get it back tomorrow. Now, we should go." Sara grabbed her keys and motioned towards the door. "Let's go."

The drive to hospital was filled with small talk. Sara found that it was easier to get along with Chris than it was with other people she met. She knew a large part of it was because Chris didn't look at her file. It also didn't hurt that they hadn't talked about anything but the case.

"Why do you think Peter wants to talk to me?" asked Sara. Chris grinned. "You agreed to keep his secret about the coffee." Sara smiled. "Neat trick with the milk. What made you think of it?"

"The milk helps calm him down, the chocolate is just a bonus."

Walking into the hospital they were met by a nurse who let Chris sign the children out and showed them to the room. The officer on guard nodded to them as Chris grabbed Sara's arm before she walked in. "If you give me the keys I'll bring the car around back to keep them from being spotted." Sara nodded and handed them over. Before she could get in the room, she was pushed back out by Judy. "Get us out of here already. I'm tired of living in a lemon fresh scent." Sara smirked and led them down the hall. Going through the back doors, they entered the alley where the car was parked. Spotting Chris she walked over with Judy and Peter. As the kids got in, Sara went to the passenger's side since Chris knew where the school was. Suddenly, something hit her in the head and then everything went black.

--

Seeing Sara fall and hearing Chris yell for them to run, Judy shoved Peter out the other side and pulled him towards the end of the alley. They ran through the front doors and to the nurses desk. Catching her breath, she tried to think of the name of the first detective she'd met. "Please, call Detective Jim Brass. There's been an attack."

--

Sofia was driving home when her cell phone rang. She tiredly flipped it open. "Sofia, Sara and Chris were attacked at the hospital. I need you to meet me there." Anything else Jim said, she didn't hear. She felt like the floor had dropped out from under her. Her tires squealed at the abrupt U-turn she made. With her siren on she made it to the hospital in three minutes. Getting out of her car she raced over to where Jim was. She felt sick as she noticed all the blood on the ground. "What happened?"

"It looks like they were ambushed while picking up the kids. Sara's inside with a bump the size of a baseball and we can't find Chris. Grissom and the others are trying to find a clue that will help us. Can you go stay with Sara and run her up to the school when she's done? The kids were driven up there okay, but they were attacked by a cop so I want her somewhere safe."

"Sure, no problem." Sofia could see that the stress of the situation was getting to him. He looked exhausted. They quickly turned when they heard Warrick yell that he found Chris. They watched him and a couple of doctors from the hospital pull her out of a trash can. Her face was covered in bloody gashes. Sofia turned towards Jim when she heard him swear. "She was darted before she came out here. She can't heal like normally does..." Someone called for Jim saying that the Undersheriff wanted a report. "Sofie, can you go check-"

"I'll let you know anything that happens." she quickly assured him. She followed the stretcher to the exam rooms. She tried to badge her way through, but the doctor told her that she'd have to wait somewhere else while Chris was examined and closed the door.

"Sofia!" She spun around spotted Sara in the exam room across the hall. She walked over and sat down in the chair next to the bed. "What happened? The last thing I remember is the kids getting in the car." Sofia sighed and began to explain.

--

In the alley, Grissom and the others went over the scene. "I think we might have some skin here" announced Greg. "It looks like when the cop went for the kids, Chris slammed his hand in the door."

"And then was almost beaten to death with a pipe and stuffed in a trash can." said Warrick with disgust. It made him sick to think that a cop would do this to another cop. Finished processing the trash can, Nick stared at it. Such a small space. He couldn't help but think about his experience in the coffin. The blood from her head wounds had slid down the side and pooled at the bottom. He shook his head clear.

--

**In Sara's Room**

"So how is she?" asked Sara.

"I don't know. She looked pretty bad but who knows." At that moment the door across the hall opened. Sofia patted Sara's hand and walked over.

"How is she?"

"Well you told us that she had been given power suppressing drugs earlier today. That amount would have been enough to stop a level three mutant's powers. Det. Soto looks to be a level five mutant and her regeneration powers are what kept her alive despite what should have been at least multiple skull fractures and all the blood she lost. Without them she would have died from a shattered skull if she didn't bleed out first. We gave her a medicine to stop the suppressors and the cuts should heal in a few days."

As the doctor walked away and Sofia called Jim, Sara took a moment to watch her. Sofia had looked so pale when she first came running in, but some color had come back into her face when she saw that Sara was alright. It warmed her to see that someone cared enough to look after her. She knew the team couldn't see her yet because they were working. Jim had stopped in while she and Sofia were talking and had given her a hug so tight, she thought he'd break her ribs. He'd looked ready to cry. They were all like family, especially Jim, and she knew they cared. Grissom had checked on her but after her half-hearted assurance that she was fine, had left. There had been a time where she'd had a crush on him, but now she just admired his mind. Otherwise, there wasn't much there. Not like Sofia. Sofia was smart, beautiful, and witty. She understood Sara's sense of humor, unlike Grissom who sometimes gave her a blank look, and she always had a come back ready. Sofia had held her hand while she explained what happened, only letting go when the doctor came out. Sofia said something over her shoulder into Chris's room, giving her privacy, before coming back into Sara's room. "She's going to be fine and we can all leave in a few minutes." They saw Jim rush into Chris's room. "How-"

"Her skull would have been shattered but she was able to heal herself."

Sara was confused. "I thought the suppressors were supposed to work on level three mutants. What level is she?"

"The doctor guesses a level 5. It was probably in her file somewhere but I didn't get that far."

"Me neither."

Jim came out of the room with Chris and patted her shoulder as he left. As Chris came in, Sara couldn't hide her wince. Long, angry, red cuts covered Chris's forehead and there was another one across her nose.

"Sorry."

"I've decided that if anybody asks what happened, I'll say birds ate my face." remarked Chris, completely deadpan.

Sofia blinked. "What?"

"Exactly. It's more fun to watch people try and figure it out instead of explaining. Let them wonder what kind of bird. If they ask I'll either go with humming bird, flamingo, or ostrich." Sara had an amused smirk on her face. "You've put a lot of thought into this." Chris just shrugged. "It took them a while to clean them. So, Jim say that you're staying at the school for a bit" she turned towards Sofia "you know how to get there?"

"Yeah. Jim gave me directions." Before leaving the hospital the doctor stopped by to mention that enough time had past to rule out any possibility of Sara having a concussion. "Finally. I can get some sleep." muttered Sara as she relaxed into the passenger seat in Sofia's car.

"Just be sure to tell Jim they thought _you_ had the possible concussion and not me." commented Chris as she settled in the back seat. Moments later she was sound asleep.

Sara caught Sofia stealing a glance at her and smiled at her. "I'm fine."

"Be sure and call Jim tomorrow." Sara was confused by the sudden change of topic. Seeing her confused look, Sofia continued. "He almost lost two of his girls. If you don't call him, he'll call you every few hours. I nearly unplugged my phone waiting to hear the results of the Bell shooting, and I wasn't even hurt." Sara turned and looked out the window and the car fell into an awkward silence. Sofia gave a shaky sigh that made Sara turn back towards her. "All Jim said on the phone was that you and Chris were hurt." Sofia paused and took a deep breath. "I don't know what I would have done if something had happened to you." It was said so softly, Sara would have missed it if she hadn't been paying attention. She reached over and squeezed Sofia's hand. When Sofia looked over, startled, Sara gave her a shy smile. Sofia smiled and squeezed her hand back. Well, Sara mused with a wide grin, at least it looks like it's a mutual nervousness.


	8. To the Guest Houses

AN: I love Toad! Ray Park as Toad was awesome so I'm borrowing a younger version of him. As for Ricky, think of Jayne Cobb but as a SEAL (saw him play one on NCIS). I still own nothing.

--

Catherine had just dropped Lindsey off at school. She had gotten a few hours of fitful sleep, but had given up and decided to go in and see if there was anything she could do. Sighing, she got out of her car and started to go inside. Seeing Jim pull up, she walked over to his car. "Couldn't sleep?"

"Actually, Kyle asked me to come down. Probably for the best anyway, I can't stand daytime tv." As they reached the door, a black car drove by and suddenly two shot gun blasts blew out the back windows on both their cars. After the car had sped away, Jim counted to ten before to getting up. His eyes looked up and down the street as he helped Catherine up. After giving quick statements, they made their way towards the lab. Finding everyone in the break room, Catherine made her way to an empty chair while Jim explained what happened to Kyle. She noticed another man standing next to the wall talking with Sofia. He was about 6' 4" and from the looks of it, another ex-Marine. She would have found him a bit threatening if he didn't look so bored.

"Okay" announced Kyle as he moved to the front of the room. "Here's what's going on. Since yesterday, word of Peter's powers has reached all mutant gangs. We also know that we're dealing at least one dirty cop. While the gangs see Peter as a threat, we figure the cops are probably part of some anti-mutant group and are trying to get rid of a high level mutant before his powers develop. Unfortunately, we don't know which group is targeting you guys for working the case. So, now our first priority is keeping all of you safe outside of work." Kyle settled into a near by chair before continuing. "All of you will be staying at the guest houses at the school. Ricky" he said, turning towards Catherine and gesturing towards the man next to Sofia, "will pick up your daughter and take her up to the school. Right now though, I need to know about any mutants you guys have worked with recently. One of the groups may use them to make a statement, so we'll have to keep them safe as well."

"We worked a case a few months ago where the main witness was a mutant but we made the case without her." answered Grissom.

"Don't matter. Anyone connected to you guys is fair game, seeing as how having you guys around didn't keep the gangs away or the cops from attacking their own." commented Ricky.

"Sofia and I are the only ones who talked to her. Aside from the lab techs, only we know about her." added Catherine.

"If she's anywhere in your reports, the cops will find her." replied Ricky.

"Right, we'll need to pick her up as well." finished Kyle.

"Ah, that might be a problem." interjected Catherine as she caught Sofia's eye. "Her power makes her look like a werewolf and she doesn't like to come out in public." Sofia nodded towards Catherine, "She might be more willing to come if Catherine goes with you."

"Then Catherine, you come with me and the rest of you can go on with your work for now."

"Um, Peter said that he had something to tell Sara and with her gone, Greg and I should probably go see what he had to say." The group broke up then to get to work. Sofia caught Greg's confused look as they went to the car and quickly explained that the other guys would make him nervous.

"Why wouldn't I make him nervous?" Sofia paused, trying to keep a smile off her face. "Your not exactly, uh, threatening. He flinched when he saw the other guys at scene." She patted his head as he pouted.

--

Kyle and Catherine made their way over to Alison's house. "How exactly do you plan on convincing her to come?" asked Catherine, after explaining the case. Kyle gave her a cocky grin. "I'll just be my normal charming self, don't worry." Catherine rolled her eyes.

Once they arrived, Kyle took Allison's mom aside to explain the situation, leaving Catherine to go get Allison.

--

A knock on her secret door made Allison curious enough to wonder who it was.

"Allison? It's Catherine." Opening the door a crack, she listened as Catherine explained that she might be in danger. She listened until Catherine said that she'd have to leave. "I- I can't leave. Someone might see me. I don't want anyone to see me." Then she heard more footsteps, thinking that it might be Det. Curtis she started to close the door again. She knew people stared a bit when they first met her, but Det. Curtis made her feel self-conscious. Seeing that the other person was a guy, she started to close the door even faster.

"Hey, you must be Allison. Catherine's told me a lot about you." the man with a gentle smile. Allison paused, peeking at him from the small crack she'd left open. "I'm Kyle. Are you ready to come with us?" Allison quickly shook her head no. "I won't be the side show freak. Plus I won't know anyone there."

"It's a mutant school, so everyone has something odd about them. And you'll know me and Catherine. We'll both be staying there. As for the side show, I think I have you beat. I mean, everyone one has hair." He fiddled with his watch for a moment and then suddenly his skin turned a dark mossy color. "Not many people are green or have an eight foot tongue and the ability to spit slime though." Allison's wide-eyed expression matched Catherine's as she looked at him. "People don't act scared? I- I mean..." She blushed under her hair at how insulting that had sounded, but Kyle just waved her off. "I figure people who aren't going to try to get to know me aren't worth knowing. At the school though, I made a lot of friends."

"Then why do you hide it with that?" she asked, pointing at the watch. Kyle shrugged. "More for other people's comfort than for mine. I'll keep it off though while we go." After a moment or two of consideration, Allison asked Catherine to get her mom to help her pack.


	9. Paid Leave Day One

AN: I don't own the cookies anymore because I ate them, and only own the game in the sense that I bought it.

--

Sara woke up the next morning, and for a brief moment, couldn't remember where she was or how she got there. Waking up more, she became aware of a pounding pain in her head, and remembered. Groaning, she rolled to her side to find a glass of water and a bottle of pain killers sitting on the bed side table. After getting a quick shower and changing, she made her way downstairs to the kitchen. Hearing someone curse softly, she followed it to the living room. There she found Chris playing a game on the PS2.

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to play as Sean Connery in LEGO form." On screen, the LEGO character was hit by gun fire, and shattered into pieces. "Damn it!" Setting down the controller she turned towards Sara. "How are you feeling?"

"Better now. Thanks for the pain killers."

"Oh, Sofia asked me for them before she left this morning. You should get something to eat." Chris went on into the kitchen, giving Sara a moment to process what Chris had just said. It meant that her conversation with Sofia had actually happened and hadn't been a weird side effect from the blow to her head. She walked into the kitchen to find Chris sitting at the table drinking a Mountain Dew. Going to the stocked fridge, she pulled out the ingredients for an omelet and turned on the coffee pot. "How's your face doing? By the way, what are you doing here?" She then flinched, realizing she could have said that better. Chris just chuckled.

"It's getting there. We're both on two days paid leave and are Jim's orders to be couch potatoes. I'm supposed to make sure you don't do anything stupid, like try to go to work."

Sara flipped her omelet over and grinned. "Huh, Jim's stories normally involve you doing something stupid."

"No comment." Sara settled down and started in on her eggs and coffee.

As Chris got up to search for something to snack on, Sara shook her head at Jim's version of looking out for "his girls". It always seemed to involve one of them being sent home with orders to stay out of trouble. _Poor Jim_, she thought with a smirk. She guessed it was just a stroke of bad luck that his girls all happened to be a headstrong and stubborn. She looked up to see Chris sit back down with a package of El Fudge cookies. Her face did look better. The cuts were still an angry red, but the swelling had gone down and they weren't oozing blood anymore. Chris gave her an odd look and then her eyes crossed as she tried to get a look at her own forehead. Realizing she was staring and had been caught, she quickly apologized.

"I'm so used to it, sometimes I forget that it's happening" Chris replied with a shrug. She looked at the cookie in her hand. "You'd think that eating a cookie in the shape of the creature that made it would make you feel guilty." She bit off the lower torso. "I guess it kind of does, but not enough to keep me from eating four or five of these and making myself feel kinda sick." She flipped over the package and read the back. "90 calories per serving... serving size one cookie. Who eats just ONE cookie??" She was cut off in the middle of her cookie rant by the ringing of her phone. She flipped it open and got up to let Sara finish her breakfast in peace. "Hello? Who? Oh right, right..."

Sara finished her breakfast and sat sipping her coffee, thinking that she should probably check her phone for messages. She noticed Chris's voice had taken on an irritated tone. "No. Look, Peter won't talk to anyone else except the four of us and his sister. He hasn't said a word to anyone else and I don't think that someone new would..." Chris let out a frustrated sigh and held the phone to Sara's ear. Sara's puzzled expression was quickly replaced with one of anger as she heard the voice on the other line.

"I just don't feel that it is in Sara's or the cases best interest for her to have any involvement with the children. She sometimes gets too emotionally involved." Sara yanked the phone out of Chris's hand, nearly launching her into the countertop.

"If you have an issue with my work, then bring it up with me, not other people!"

Clearly startled, Grissom tried to respond. "Sara? I- I was just concerned. With your history..."

"You had better be referring to my history as an excellent investigator, because my personal history has nothing to do with the case!"

"Look, Sara lets discuss this later. I'll be up there later and..."

"What? No. There's nothing to discuss. Let's just focus on the case." With that Sara flipped the phone shut. Fuming, she struggled to find something to do with her hands and settled on throwing the phone into the living room and collapsed back into her chair. Then she caught sight of Chris watching her phone sail through the air. "Sorry, I just..."

Chris settled into the chair across from her and waved off her apology. "I've run over my phone before. Chucking it across the room won't hurt it." She pushed the package of cookies towards Sara. "Grissom mentioned that Greg and Sofia are on their way up to talk to Peter. Marion said that she'd bring Peter by at around one so that he can talk to you."

"Grissom said he's coming up here. Why would-"

"It looks like someone is targeting you guys for working the case. So, just as a precaution, we're having you guys stay up here when you're not working. Each guest house has rooms for two people, so you'll be bunking with Sofia. Catherine and Lindsey will take another, and the guys can figure out their room mates out later. Sofia and Peter should be here in a little bit." Sara took a minute to try and process the news that she'd be living with Sofia for an undetermined amount of time. As they moved into the living room, she noticed Chris's questioning look and tried to change the subject. "Jim called Marion your better half." Chris grinned.

"That's partially due to the fact that she's my girlfriend."

"And the other part?"

"He believes that I get into less trouble when she's around, which is why he calls me Impulse and her Common Sense. While it's probably true, I refuse to acknowledge it." Sara smirked and then noticed Chris giving her that look again. "What?"

"You like Sofia, don't you? And before you ask what I'm talking about, I spend a lot of my time off here at the school. Surrounded by kids and teenagers. Trust me, I can tell when someone 'like likes' someone." Sara fought back a smile and quirked an eyebrow. "Like like? You've been spending too much time around these kids."

"Changing the subject" teased Chris in a sing song voice.

"Fine. I like her. But we haven't even gone out on a date yet. Hell, it took blunt force trauma to find out that she likes me."

"So eat in here with her and talk. Use the goose egg as an excuse." Chris put up her hands at Sara's unamused look. "Hey, I'm supposed to go to a meeting with the powers that be, but I plan on using my face to get out of it. My _injured_ face. I can see you trying to think of a witty come back. For Jim's sake, you should probably say that you just can't handle being around a lot of people at the moment, otherwise he'll worry."

At that moment, the door bell rang.


	10. The First Night

AN: I just had a Bond marathon with some friends so I'm going to model Marion after Eva Green. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. As for the other things in this chapter, I still don't own 'em. Especially since Hitchcock would probably rise from the dead to elaborately kill me.

Chris walked over and opened the door to reveal Sofia and Greg's surprised faces. "Finally. Sofia, I hand over the duty of watching her to you."

"You leaving?" Sara was reluctant to see her new friend go.

"Nah, I just don't wanna the one responsible for you anymore. Heck, I'm barley capable for taking care of myself." Greg smiled at Sara, but stopped short when he saw Chris's face.

"What-"

"Birds ate my face."

Greg's face lit up in a smile. "Invisible Monsters!" He and Chris shared a knowing grin. Sofia looked back and forth between them. "It's a Chuck Palahniuk book" explained Greg. Sara and Sofia both groaned. "He's been trying to get us to read one of those books forever."

Marion entered with a knock and with Judy and Peter following behind. Peter went over and sat next to Sara on the sofa while Judy stood next to Chris. "Your face looks good."

"Thanks." Sara was nervous. Her usual blunt demeanor didn't always work well with kids.

"Hey Peter. You doing okay?" Peter nodded but wouldn't look at her.

"What did you want to tell me?"

"His shoes. There was blood on the laces." Peter fiddled with the laces on his own shoes. Greg was about to say something but Sofia stopped him.

"What made you remember it?"

"It was dripping." Sofia shared a look with Chris before sitting down next to Peter. "Peter, I know you said you just saw his shoes, but are you sure? You didn't take a quick peek at his face?" The entire room was silent for a few moments. Peter took hold of Sara's hand before continuing.

"I only saw up to his mouth" Peter whispered I looked up but, I was afraid to move cause I thought he might hear me. There was blood his hand and here." Peter continued, pointing to his chin.

"I might have hit the guy's nose when I fell down the stairs." added Judy.

He dropped Sara's hand and turned to face Sofia, his hands unclipping her badge from her belt. He flipped it in his hands. "I'm sorry you got hurt." Sara opened and closed her mouth. She wasn't sure what to say. "Mom used to take care of me and Judy when we got hurt." Sara pulled him into a hug. "I'm fine and don't worry, I've got people looking after me."

"I just gave the job over to Sofia. She's a cop and it's her job to look after people, so I'm sure Sara will be okay." said Chris with a reassuring smile. Peter turned and looked at Chris. "I'm fine too." Marion gave him a smile. "Just like how I look after you, I look after Chris too." Judy gave Chris a look. She shrugged. "So I'm accident prone."

"Trouble prone." corrected Marion. "Let's see about getting some food." Peter gave Sofia back her badge as Sara said she'd see him around, and followed Judy and Marion out. Greg waited for the door to close before saying anything. "We found a different blood type on the stairs. We assumed it was Judy's, after her fall. It's still being processed but I'll make sure to run it through the database." Marion returned a few minutes later. "Allison arrived safely." She turned towards Sofia and Greg. "Sofia, you will room here. Greg, you can figure out which one of the other guys you want to room with."

"Great. None of them like my music." Sara grinned. Despite everything that had happened, Greg made things seem almost back to normal. "I guess I'll go see who is willing to be my roomie."

"You get separate rooms" added Marion.

"That won't matter given how loud Greg plays his music." commented Sara.

"Oh, hey" Greg said, turning towards Chris and Marion. "Jim keeps talking about you guys."

"Because he's being asked about them?" asked Sofia with a smirk.

"Maybe. Anyway, Jim says that you guys were some of the best Marines he knows. Why'd you guys quit?" His excitement faded as he saw the sad smiles on their faces. Marion stopped with her hand on the door. She turned around and looked at Greg. "I used to be a Gunnery Sergeant. A sniper" she amended, seeing Greg's blank expression. "When you're given a target, you're just given a photo. No specific reason, and as a soldier who follows orders, you shouldn't need one. I lost track of how many assignments I had completed, but I started to remember their faces. The spray of blood and then their dead eyes. That, along with finding that I had a callous on my trigger finger, got to me. I requested a discharge the next day." She shook her head clear. "I'll see you all at dinner. I have to go get Allison settled in." She closed the door behind her. Greg turned to Chris. She had settled down into one of the overstuffed chairs. "I'm very well trained and good at what I do, but my healing abilities got me put on the squads that were sent on the riskiest missions. After a while, I got tired of being one of the few coming back and being assigned to a new group right after funerals of my last group."

"Ah, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend anyone..." said Greg. Chris gave a low chuckle. "It has nothing to do with you. The Marines just won't let go of their soldiers, that's all. Our files say that we're burned out, but they're waiting for us to recover and come back. Our jobs, along with a word from Jim and Gibbs, are the only things keeping us from returning to active duty." Then her phone started to ring, breaking the awkward silence. Chris leapt out of her seat. "Sara, where did you toss it?" Sara got up, trying to think back. "I think it went under the chairs." Moving one of the chairs, Chris snapped up her phone. "Yeah? Oh, okay awesome. I'll get the door." Chris hung up and opened the front door to reveal Ricky holding a large brown bag.

"Got food for us."

"Ah, I don't think I can handle a lot of people yet so I'll eat here." said Sara. Giving Sara a look, Sofia said she'd be staying in too. Chris gave Sara a small smirk from behind Sofia's back. Ricky reached into the bag and tossed two foil wrapped burritos towards Sara and Sofia.

"One veggie and one chicken." Chris clapped her hands, asking hers.

"You don't look like a Ricky to me" said Greg, giving him a sideways glance as he tossed one to Chris.

"You guys already got Warrick. Two Ricks just confuses people. Now c'mon if you want yours." Ricky and Greg left and Chris turned towards Sara. "You guys going to stay in for dinner too?" Sara considered it but then thought she might as well eat in the main hall with the others, just to know where it was. "No, I think I'll be okay by then."

"Then I'll come by and get you guys at around 6: 30."

--

After the door closed, Sofia motioned towards the door. "I grabbed your overnight bag from your locker. How's your head?"

"It's okay. Thanks for the pain killers this morning." Sara thought she saw a faint blush appear on Sofia's cheeks, but it could have been the lighting. They moved into the kitchen. "What happened today?" asked Sara.

"Not much. Someone tried to scare Jim and Catherine by shooting out their car windows. We're looking at dirty cops and mutant gangs to find out who's behind all this. All I did today was drive up here with Greg, the others stayed at the lab." After discovering that she couldn't open her burrito without making a mess, Sofia started to move towards the kitchen. Sara gave her the other burrito to take with her. "I'm going to take our stuff upstairs otherwise I just know I'll trip over it later." Sofia smiled and watched Sara go upstairs. A knock at the door kept Sofia from starting in on her lunch. She opened the door to see Grissom shifting from foot to foot. "Hi Sofia. Is Sara here?"

"Yeah, she's upstairs." she didn't offer anything else since something seemed off. Grissom was shifting a bit on his feet and wouldn't meet her eye.

"Well, can you tell her I stopped by?"

"Sure." She closed the door as he walked away. She moved back into the kitchen as she heard Sara come down the stairs. "So, what did Chris's phone do to make you throw it?" Sofia asked with a grin. Sara sighed and recounted her conversation with Grissom. She looked up to see Sofia scowling. "What?"

"While you were upstairs, he came by and asked for you."

"I _don't_ want to talk to him."

"Don't worry. As of now, if he calls or drops by, I'll tell him you're resting. That asshole."

"Anyway, that's why I threw her phone." Sofia was thrown for a moment, having forgotten how the conversation started, then laughed. They finished their meal in a comfortable silence, then started to clean up. "Where's the trash can?"

"Uh, in the pantry. I can't believe how nice this place is."

"Kyle said that Ms. Frost had these made for when parents visit or families are interested in the school." Sofia followed Sara to the living room and was about to sit in one of the chairs, when the video game box caught her eye. "LEGO Indiana Jones?" Sara stretched out on the sofa. "Chris brought it over with some movies. She figured we'd get bored, being stuck here all day."

"She seems like a good friend, something you need when you're on paid leave." Sofia had tried to make the comment sound off hand, but a hint of jealousy had managed to creep into her voice. Sara lay on the sofa with her eyes closed. She hoped that being unable to see Sofia's expressive eyes would calm her nervousness. "She is a good friend. I think it's because she's not asking a thousand questions trying to get to know me. When I became part of the team, Greg asked me a billion questions."

"Because he has a crush on you."

"Yeah, but it didn't make it any less annoying. Chris kind of reminds me of you a little bit actually." Sofia raised an eyebrow while Sara continued. "I mean, she had the chance to look at my file and you know what's in my file, but neither of you feels the compulsion that everyone else does to ask me about it. You both just...let me be, and get to know me through work and stuff." Sara chuckled to herself. "Actually, she talks to herself too. Went on a little rant about Elf cookies."

"Hey! I only talk to myself at crime scenes! It helps me process!"

"Justifying it doesn't make it any less crazy." Sara's eyes popped open when a pillow hit her in the face. She turned to see Sofia smirking at her and grinned back. She reached up to remove the pillow, but hissed in pain as her hand brushed the bruise.

"Are you alright? I'll get you some ice." She returned moments later and helped Sara sit up. Much to Sara's surprise though, after sitting down, she helped Sara lay back down on to her lap and put the ice pack on her head. "Sorry. Throwing the pillow was a stupid thing to do." Sara gradually relaxed, and settled against Sofia. Sofia focused on slowing her heart beat down. She couldn't believe how impulsive she was being. She had admitted to herself that she was attracted to Sara... Okay, more than just attracted, but still! Having Sara's head resting in her lap was moving things faster than she had expected. And _now _she had to try and get the image of Sara's head in her lap out of her head. Great. Sara's voice pulled her from her thoughts.

"Don't worry about it. I'm mean, what can you expect from a sort of crazy person?" replied Sara with a cheeky grin. Sofia smiled while Sara grabbed a CD case off the coffee table and flipped through a bunch of DVDs. Sara's joking tone helped her relax. This was nice. It felt normal. It wasn't too often she got to feel normal. She was always working and even when she wasn't, she came home thinking about a case or too exhausted to do anything more than microwave something and collapse into bed. She couldn't remember the last time she just sat around.

"You think we have enough time to watch Rear Window?" asked Sara. She checked her watch. "We have a good four hours before dinner."

--

After the movie, Sara and Sofia had tried playing video games for a while. The LEGO game was perfect since it wasn't violent and had unlimited lives. They had enough violence in their jobs. It also explained how to play in the game, which was a plus since both of them were equally unskilled when it came to playing. Sofia had made Sara play as Daddy Dr. Jones as payback for making fun of her. When Kyle came by to get them for dinner, they had played for two hours and hadn't made it past the first stage. Heck, it had taken them half an hour to figure out that they had to stay together to go anywhere. Kyle took them to the main building and to the kitchen, where they found the others helping make dinner. Greg suddenly yelped and ran for the sink. Catherine and Nick looked from Greg to Chris, who just shrugged. "I told him not to rub his eyes while chopping onions."

"It stings!"

Sara peeked over Warrick's shoulder. "What are you guys making?"

"Some Spanish dish I think. It started as tacos, then someone said tamales... All I know is that you need chicken in all of them, and that's what I'm in charge of. Nick's doing beans and Greg and Chris are doing salsa."

Sofia spotted Kyle and Allison setting the table in the other room. She touched Sara's arm to let her know she'd be back. She walked into the other room and hesitated in the doorway. She felt guilty for the way she had treated Allison the last time she had seen her. Allison wasn't the first mutant she'd met but her nervousness at meeting new people had been contagious. Seeing her here, with other mutants, made her feel all the more stupid about how she had acted. She took a deep breath and walked over. "Allison. How are you?" Allison paused in setting the table and looked up startled. "Det. Curtis. I'm- I'm doing fine."

"Please, call me Sofia. Look, can we sit for a moment?"

"Um, sure." She saw Kyle give her a smile as he left the room.

"I, ah, I wanted to apologize for my behavior the last time we spoke."

"It's okay. Most people act different around freaks." replied Allison as she fiddled with her fingers. Sofia grabbed her wrist, startling her. "You are _not_ a freak. Staying at a school like this should make that much clear. You just happen to be different and as corny as that sounds, it's true. In the same way that Kyle and Chris and Judy and Peter are different. It also does not excuse me from making you feel like a freak, and I am very sorry that I made you feel that way." Allison stared at Sofia for a moment. She wasn't used to being apologized to, and wasn't sure of what to say. It had never occurred to her that Sofia would feel bad, much less ever think twice about how she had acted. "Thank you." She paused for a moment before speaking up again "Kyle says he's going to speak to Marion and Emma about letting me stay here for good." Sofia smiled.

"Really? That's great!"

"He says that he, Chris, and Marion went here. I talked to Marion. She says that I can go to school here for free."

"That sounds great. Have you made any friends?"

"I met Kyle and Catherine's daughter Lindsey. I also met Chris and Ricky but I've been busy settling in and getting a tour."

"Well, remember that you can come to me as well. I'll be staying here until this case is over, but even after, you can still come to me."

"Thank you, Det. Cur- Sofia."

--

Sara hadn't meant to listen to their conversation. She was just going to set the three bean salad on the table. She waited a moment or two and then walked in. "Hey you guys. The meal is just about ready so pick some good seats." She shared a smile with Sofia. Sofia saw something over Sara's shoulder and quickly turned to Allison. "Allison, could you sit on the other side of Sara? We can move down a seat to make room for Kyle." Seeing the hurt expression on Allison's face, she put a hand on her shoulder. "I meant what I said earlier, but you would be doing me a really big favor." Allison nodded and moved to sit next to Sara as the others came in. Kyle took a seat next to Allison and Lindsey sat across from her. Chris and Marion sat across from Sara and Sofia, which made Grissom sit next to Marion, hoping he could catch Sara's eye. Seeing him sit down, Sara turned her face away from his view to whisper to Allison. "Thank you. I didn't want to sit next to Grissom. I owe you one." Allison just smiled, happy that she had made two more friends.

--

The meal had been wonderful, and everyone had assured Greg that his onions had given it the extra kick it needed. Dinner conversation, thankfully, hadn't been about work. Instead it revolved around Jim telling stories about some of the trouble Chris, Marion, and Kyle had gotten in when they were younger, and Chris and Kyle trying to come with ways to justify their actions. Catherine looked at Lindsey from the other end of the table. "You'd better not be getting any ideas from this."

"No mom. Of course not." replied Lindsey, but her wide grin said otherwise.

Having been unable to get Sara to look at him, Grissom had given up and tried to join in the conversation. He had gotten distracted by looking at Chris's face. Chris noticed and turned towards him. "What?"

"It's just remarkable how quickly your face is healing."

"Yeah, my powers speed up recovery time."

"Have you ever had any experiments done with your powers?"

"Uh, not really..." Chris suddenly found her water glass fascinating. Marion, being stuck between the two, shifted in her seat.

"It would be really interesting to see how fast your body could recover. It would be very informative from both a mutant research and medical point of view." By this point, all other conversation had stopped. Chris stood up and gathered her dishes.

"I've had enough tests and experiments conducted on me, and I'm not really into harming myself or letting other people harm me for research. It's been a long day, so I'm just going to go turn in. Goodnight everybody." Marion got up and followed her out. After that, there was a silent agreement that it was time to turn in and after a quick clean up, everyone made their way to the guest houses.

--

Sara and Sofia went back to their guest house but neither was quite ready to turn in. "I can't believe he said that." muttered Sara.

"You have to admit, it was a very Grissom way to end the evening." They had relaxed into their previous positions, as Sara flipped aimlessly through tv channels. "Knowing Grissom, he probably didn't even realize why it was offensive. He was just thinking of the science behind it." She sighed. "Oh, and thanks for getting Allison to sit next to me. I don't think the night would have ended as well as it did if he had sat with me."

"No problem." Sofia had been absently stroking her hair, careful not to touch the bump, but stopped as Sara turned to look at her.

"I heard you apologize to Allison."

"Eavesdropping?" asked Sofia with a smile, letting her know she wasn't mad.

"Let's call it unintentional listening."

"I wasn't the nicest I could have been when I met Allison."

"Well, at least you're aware of it. I can't believe I was ever even interested in Grissom. But I guess we're both guilty of bad judgement in that area."

"Wrong." Sara sat up and looked at Sofia.

"I heard him ask you to dinner once."

"Do you unintentionally listen in on everyone or just me? If you had listened further though, you would have heard me decline. Greg had already invited me to have a Jet Li night at his place."

"Wait, you spent an entire night watching Jet Li movies with Greg?" Sofia gave an embarrassed shrug. "I hadn't gotten used to his pouts yet. And I had the next two days off, so six hours of movies wasn't bad. _Long_, but not bad. As for Grissom, he was interesting when I first met him, but there wasn't much else to him. So I moved on, and tried to get to know this one CSI."

"And then you left and came back a detective. And to answer your earlier question, I only listened in on you."

"Unintentionally."

"Of course. I guess I still liked Grissom at the time. Now I've got my eye on someone else." Sofia reached out and grabbed Sara's shoulder.

"You're about to fall off the couch. Come on, let's get you to bed." Sofia led an exhausted Sara upstairs. As they said goodnight Sofia planted a quick kiss on Sara's cheek before going to her own room. While Sara went to bed with a grin, Sofia wondered if she'd lost her mind.


	11. Getting Closer

The next morning Sara and Sofia decided to eat in the main building for breakfast. Walking in they saw Allison, Lindsey, Nick, and Greg seated at one of the long tables. In the kitchen two voices could be heard.

"Add two eggs and stir."

"This makes ten pancakes, so we each get five, right?"

"Nah, we'll just split one big one."

Sara and Sofia waked in just as Judy and Peter were about to pour the mix into the pan. Sofia ran over and took the bowl, offering to help. Sara plopped down in a stool at the counter, trying to summon enough energy to go turn on the coffee pot. She watched Sofia pour out the mix and make ten pancakes, with what seemed like practiced ease. Then there were voices in the hall. Chris came in through the swinging door dressed in jeans and an old t-shirt, but looking far from awake. The door swung back and nearly hit Ricky, who followed her in. "Look, Sean told me to tell you to be sure and and follow up with the kids and talk to Emma and Hank about settin' up a file for 'em and the Bradford girl."

"Mm-hm" Chris hit the button on the coffee maker. She frowned and hit it again when it didn't go.

"Sean said the sooner the better."

"Look, couldn't you have left this for me in a note and _not_ have woken me up?" She checked the filter and then removed pot. "Why won't this thing work?" Ricky turned and saw Sara at the counter, then looked back at Chris and took a step back towards the door. Sara and Sofia shared a puzzled look.

"Uh, Marion set it to go off when she thought you and Sara would be gettin' up." he replied backing up another step back.

"When's that supposed to be?"

"Twenty minutes from now."

Right before the pot was launched at his head, Ricky sped out the swinging door. Chris replaced the pot, fell into a chair, and rested her head on the counter while she waited for the coffee pot. The others came in from the other room and stowed their dishes away. A "don't touch me" was muttered just as Greg was about to poke Chris's shoulder. Nick chuckled as Greg jerked away. "How many kids do you think have tried that before you, Greggo?" Sara looked over at Allison. "What are your plans for today?"

"I'm going to hang out with Lindsey and maybe walk around the campus."

"You have to meet with Henry first." Chris mumbled. Lindsey gave the top of Chris's head a sideways look.

"Is she okay?"

"She just hasn't had any coffee yet that's all. She'll be fine in... fifteen minutes." assured Sofia. That got a groan from both Chris and Sara.

Allison smiled as she watched the people around her. She was still very shy and nervous around people but she was getting a little better. Catherine's daughter, like her mom, didn't stare or make her feel nervous. Lindsey made her feel normal, talking about everything from new music to movies, like they were old friends and Kyle made her feel at ease about her appearance. He didn't care what people thought about him, and no one acted different if his powers were showing or not. She wasn't talking very much but she was around people, and after a lifetime of isolation, it was a big step for her.

Sara looked up. "Wait, I thought Ricky said the guy's name was Hank."

"Doc doesn't care" Allison stopped talking to Lindsey for a moment and turned towards Chris. "A doctor? I- I don't like doctors."

"Don't worry my dear, it will be just a quick check up." said Henry McCoy from the doorway. Standing at 5'11", with blue hair covering his body, Henry might appear threatening to some people. However, his polite and gentle demeanor, along with his intelligence, tended to make people forget that his nickname was Beast.

"You're doctor Henry McCoy!" said Greg with mixture of excitement and awe. "You're the one of the lead experts on mutation and evolutionary human biology and genetics!" Henry gave him a kind smite.

"No one, except for those in a similar field, are ever impressed by my credentials. What is it that you do?"

"I used to be a DNA technician at the crime lab, but now I'm a CSI." Henry nodded as he noticed Chris staring at the timer on the coffee pot. "Sean tells me that there are some people that I must meet?" Chris looked over her shoulder. "Hey Big Blue. I'd like you to meet Sara, Sofia, Nick, Greg, and Lindsey. The ones that Sean was talking about would be Judy, Peter, and Allison." Henry looked down to see Peter staring at him. Allison had also noticed and ducked her head. "Can I help you, young sir?" Peter hadn't said a word to anyone except his sister, Chris, Sara, and Sofia, so when he spoke, his voice wasn't louder than a whisper. "You're my favorite color and furry." Chris cocked her head to the side. Peter was showing signs of shock. His reluctance to talk to people worried her, and as soon as Henry was done, Chris was going to sit him down with Emma. Henry reached down and picked Peter up, placing him on his shoulders for a piggy back ride. Judy's body relaxed at seeing her brother smile. It was the first time he had since they had arrived. Henry turned to Allison and gently put a finger under her chin, making her look at him. "You, my dear, have wonderful hair. A beautiful color. I am quite envious. There is not a lot one can do with the color blue, I'm afraid." He shared a smile with her, the turned to Chris. "I trust your face is healing well? I will take our guests down to the medical bay and drop them off with Emma when I'm through. Miss Sidle, please don't hesitate to drop by should you have any problems with your head."

"Can Lindsey come with me?" asked Allison. At Dr. McCoy's nod, Lindsey patted her shoulder and followed her. The coffee pot beeped and Chris lunged towards it with a ready cup. Chris passed Sara a cup and promised meet up with Sara later since she had a meeting with Emma. She grabbed a muffin and a banana and followed Nick and Greg out as they went to go to work. Sara took a sip of the warm liquid. Sofia set a plate of pancakes in front of her.

"It turns out they made a recipe for twenty, not ten."

"Looks like your an expert at making pancakes. It takes serious skill to flip them in the pan like that." This time there was no mistaking the blush on Sofia's cheeks.

"Um, working the nightshift has made breakfast my focus meal. Lunch and dinner are mostly take out, so I like to do something different for breakfast. You know, make it special by trying new recipes." She looked up and saw an unreadable expression on Sara's face. "Of course, saying it out loud just makes it seem silly."

"No, it's not silly. It sounds nice. I was just trying to remember the last time I had something besides take out or a bowl of cereal. What other things do you know how to cook?" They had just finished their meal and were discussing some of their favorite foods when Kyle popped his head in. "Hey, we've got something new to look at so we're heading out." He looked towards Sara. "Jim said to stick you in the research library to make you happy. I can take you there now if you'd like." Sara and Sofia followed him down the hallways. "To keep me happy?"

"Actually, what he said was more along the lines of: if you're occupied, then you tend to stay out of trouble." Sofia chuckled and Sara gave her a playful shove. Entering the library, Sara was met with what basically amounted to all the books she wanted to read but could never find the time to. Sofia turned to Kyle. "So, am I riding with you or taking a separate car?" Kyle gave her a grin. "You get to ride with Ricky. Don't worry, he's a bit of a cowboy, but he's good."

"What do you mean by good?"

"He's not as dumb or as mean as he looks."

"Hey, Kyle? I can't help feeling like I've heard your name before..." interjected Sara. Kyle got a pensive look on his face, then started to walk over to a bookshelf. "Do you read a lot of forensic journals?"

"When I have the time." Kyle pulled out a particular issue. "Then you're probably think of my sister's article: Digital Optical Enhancement of Reflective Surfaces with Scattered Refractive Properties by Abby-"

"Sciuto. That's it. Thanks." replied Sara as she took the issue from him. "I remember hearing about it at a conference and wanting to read the article. I just never got around to it." Ricky suddenly appeared in the door way. "Hey Curtis, let's go." Sofia gave Sara a smile and followed Ricky and Kyle out.

--

Once they were on their way, Sofia tried to get a better idea of what Kyle had meant.

"So where are we going?"

"To the kid's school. Parents had a letter about an incident involving Peter. Called the Principal and she said that all she could tell us was that it was 'mutant related'."

"So you figure, we go down there and threaten her with interfering."

"Yup."

"And why does this take two people?" Ricky gave her a grin.

"You get to be the diplomatic one." Sofia smirked.

"So, what's your background in?" Ricky shifted in his seat and readjusted his grip on the steering wheel. "Used to be Commander Rainer in the SEALs. Had a mission go bad and took a bullet in the chest. I'm okay now, but I can't do the SEALs anymore. So now I'm a detective with the mutant unit."

"Sounds like you miss it. Why couldn't you be an instructor or something?"

"Cause, an instructor has to be able to demonstrate how to do things. Now I can't go below fifteen feet in water and I can't handle air pressure very well, which gets rid of repelling and jumps." He shrugged. "I like being a detective and all." He caught Sofia's skeptical look. "I do! It's just that in the SEALs, I was in command. Hell, when I worked with Chris in the others, I was the one giving the orders."

"So you miss being in charge." Ricky shook his head and looked like he was searching for the right words. "When I was workin' with Marion and the others, even though I was giving the orders, it didn't matter because we're on the same side. We were all there to complete a mission as efficiently and quietly as possible. Here, I gotta worry about makin' mutants look good and not making the regular Joe's look bad or stupid, having to deal with all the political bullshit, waiting for the okay or not going because it'd make some Suit look bad.. Too many toes to worry about stepping on."

"I know what you mean. We have Sheriffs and Undersheriffs. I used to work dayshift." Ricky snorted. "You gave yourself even more problems switching. Now you got to worry about the dayshift looking over your shoulder." Sofia nodded. They got out of the car and made their way towards the school. The Principal met them in the hallway.

"Detectives. I'm Principal Patterson. I'm sorry you took the time to drive all the way out here. I believe I told you all I could over the phone."

"Miss Patterson, these children have lost their parents. Our evidence indicates that the attack may have been mutant related. Now if you insist on withholding information, we will have to charge you with interfering with an investigation." said Sofia. The Principal was visibly flustered. "We can talk about it in my office." The Principal sat behind her desk and motioned towards the chairs. "We had an incident about a week ago. It seemed that someone was picking on Peter in the science lab. Apparently, things escalated and then all the windows in the room suddenly blew out. We agreed to let the Hathaways finish out the semester, seeing as how there are only two weeks left, but we simply could not allow a mutant with powers like that to remain here. He puts the other students at risk."

"So you call the police and throw him out." stated Ricky. The Principal flinched. "At first we thought someone was attacking the school. By the time we figured out it was Peter, the Police were already involved." Sofia thought for a moment.

"How did you find out that it was Peter who had caused the explosion?"

"The bell rang while the Police were questioning Peter. His sister came looking for him and told us that Peter didn't mean to do it, that he just couldn't control his powers yet. You see why we couldn't allow a mutant with uncontrollable powers to remain here." Ricky growled. "Let me get this straight. You had the Police question him, without his parents, because you GUESSED it was him?" The Principal grew even more nervous. "His parents had been contacted and were on their way. It seemed like a reasonable assumption, given that his sister has mutant abilities." Ricky looked like he was ready to go off on the trembling woman. Sofia wrapped up the interview. "That's all we have for now. If you could give us any files regarding the children."

Sofia and Ricky left moments later. "I thought that woman was going to have a heart attack. You do the intimidation part well."

"Hey, it got us the files without a warrant didn't it?" Sofia looked at him from across the hood of the car while she thought.

"And now we know how the cops found out about their powers. A local patrol car would have been the first to respond. That's the same kind of officer who would be assigned to guard duty. Now we just have to check the logs of who responded to the school against anyone placed on duty at the hospital."


	12. Hey look! It's Riley

AN: Still sitting here owning nothing. Reviews would help though.

Chris found Sara sitting in the library surrounded by books. "Having fun?" Sara looked over the top of a forensic journal to see Chris plop into an over stuffed chair. She shrugged. "Hey, I've been meaning to talk to you. How's Peter?"

"He'll be okay. Emma had to fly out here to finalize guardianship and approve the scholarships. She's going to stick around and help him work through his trauma. She'll also talk with Judy" Sara nodded, pleased that the kids would get the help they needed. "I also wanted to apologize for Grissom's behavior last night. He didn't mean to offend you, he just was thinking of the science." Chris smiled and shook her head.

"You are the fourth person to apologize for him. Catherine, Warrick, and Jim all did earlier this morning." Sara should have guessed. "So what are you up to?"

"Just doing a lot of thinking about cases I've worked. Those little nagging feelings." Sara sighed and closed the journal she had been reading. "I worked a case with Sofia about a week ago. This genius kid convinced me that she had killed a girl and not brother. Slacker versus smarts. It was enough to convince the jury too. Turns out her brother did it." Sara shook her head. "Everyone else knew that the brother did it. Sofia said that she could see it in his eyes. I hate the fact that I didn't see it." Chris settled into the chair. "Okay, based on what Jim has told you and what you've seen, what's your impression of me?"

"What?"

"Well, you guys talked to people about this kid and interviewed her. You've seen my file and hung out with me. What's your impression of me? And be honest, you won't offend me."

"Um, okay." This was weird. Sara thought about what she knew and tried to put it into a profile. "Your parents were killed and were institutionalized for four years. Your juvie record has citations for joy riding, running away, and trespassing and you didn't do well in school. Jim tells stories about you taking bus trips back and forth from DC and multiple injuries from skateboarding. I'd have to say that you were a wild child who had issues with impulse control, and was straightened out by enlisting in the Marines. Despite all that, you still are seen an irresponsible kid who does her job but due to your recklessness, should be kept out of sight." Chris grinned.

"And now it's time for everyone's favorite game show: Fill in the Blanks! My file makes it sound like the trauma of the murder led to me being institutionalized. The truth is I was put there after I was thought to be a pyromaniac for accidentally setting fire to Gibbs's kitchen. What actually happened was I came into my pyrokineisis and the state thought the best way to deal with that was with fifty milligrams of throazine every day."

"A heavy sedative." Chris nodded.

"And yes, I guess I was a bit of a handful but look at me now. I'm barely five feet tall and have to interact with kids with mutant powers everyday. Sure, I wear my Thundercats t-shirt under my work shirt, but in the field the gang kids talk to me and not Jim."

"So it all comes down to appearances can be deceiving? Thanks I feel so much better." Chris grabbed the journal from Sara's hand to keep her from opening it. "No, it comes down to go with your gut. I'm betting on some level you knew that she couldn't have done it, but you saw how much easier it would have been for her to plan. The brother was a slacker. Well, based on my file, so was I. And it's hard to believe that an impulsive kid like me could become a Reconnaissance Man. A position that requires planning, and meticulous follow through. You'd bet that someone like me would leave something behind or get caught. That kid counted on the fact that you all would assume her brother would be too stupid to plan out something so elaborate. Just like I count on the fact that people won't suspect the kid playing racket ball on a skateboard of having enough neurons firing to have been the one who invaded their offices for confidential files an hour ago."

"Thanks for the lesson." Sara growled as she snatched the journal back. Chris leaned back. "If people knew what was in your file do you think they'd expect you to be a CSI?" Sara jerked her head up and her glare got harder.

"I thought you didn't read it."

"I didn't. But whatever is in it is clearly enough to put you on your guard and your boss to question your abilities. If I were you, I'd concentrate on why didn't you focus on the brother."

"Because all he had was brute strength!' Sara gave Chris a run down of the case.

"Okay so you say he's just muscle. From another point of view, he's protective of his sister, and her project was a 'how to' guide on how he could fix things." She sat back as she watched Sara think it through and slowly nod her head.

"Now take all that and think about the mutant gang we encountered in our case."

"Disorganized. Just more brute force."

"Or? Think about it as if from behind the observation glass." Sara thought for a moment. She wasn't used to looking past the evidence and interviews weren't really her thing.

"Or was someone was observing the interaction to see what they would be dealing with."

"Exactly. A very good move on their part, and provoking me into using my powers hinted what I can do and gave them a window to act in. They had to know I'd be darted for using them. What it comes down to is that whoever is leading the mutants is smart and won't be easy to take down."

"Lucky us."

"Careful now, or you'll be like Sofia and turn into a detective." This got the journal thrown at her.

"Quick question. Why does everyone in the Mutant Unit have a military background?"

"We have to be able to take care of ourselves in any situation, with and without powers. We also have to go in without knowing what a mutant's powers are. I guess they figure if we can handle roadside bombs, an unknown power should be no problem."

--

Sofia and Ricky had Marion meet them in one of the layout rooms at the lab. Kyle, Catherine, and Nick joined them with the Hathaway's medical records. Sofia went over what they had learned from the school. Catherine pulled out the Police reports from the incident at the school. She handed the sign in sheet to Sofia and scene photos to Marion. "The teacher said that Peter and this other boy Scott were yelling." Nick pointed to the glass outside the building. "He manipulated the sound waves and shattered the windows, while forcing them out of building."

"What did the school expect the parents to do?" asked Catherine.

"They didn't care. Just didn't want 'em." grumbled Ricky.

"We have another problem." commented Marion as she turned a photo towards Ricky and Kyle. Sofia peered at the person Marion was pointing to. He could be seen walking out of frame, but he was facing the camera. Kyle smashed his hand on the table, making Catherine and Nick jump. He picked up the rest of the photos and flipped through them.

"Son of a bitch. It's Riley. Means Ethan is close by too."

"Mind telling us who Riley is?" asked Nick. Anything that made these guys jumpy, he wanted to know about.

"Riley Davenport. Mean and evil as they come. He's a dinosaur fan too." said Ricky as he pushed the photo towards Catherine and Nick and went over to a computer to pull up his file. "You ever wish you had a friend to play with or a dragon for a pet when you were a kid? Well, Riley can make 'em real."

Kyle pulled out his phone to give Chris an update. As he hung up the main phone rang. Nick picked it up and after a few seconds, hung up again. "Grissom wants us to drive over to the garage next door. He wants Ricky to park his truck next to Sara's since they're similar." Marion rode with Ricky, Kyle, Sofia. When they had backed in, Grissom motioned for Nick to park his truck so that it blocked the door way. When they had all gotten out, they gathered around both cars.

"It seems that not only the Police had planned to attack that night." Warrick rolled out from under Sara's truck as Greg rolled under Ricky's. "Found what looks to be a half installed pipe bomb underneath." commented Warrick. While everyone was visibly affected by this news, Ricky noticed Sofia turn white. Greg rolled out from underneath his. "Yup, looks like someone took a torch to the bottom of it and tried to attach it to the frame and then slip the wires through a hole to the engine." Nick looked at the cars. "Wasn't the car facing the other way?" Grissom nodded. "Your car acts as the back doors that lead to the alley. We positioned the car in the way Chris was expected to park. When Sara and Chris went inside, they took the opportunity to plant it, knowing they'd use the alley as a pick up, but Chris must have come back sooner than anticipated. Had she parked this way, the bomb would have gone off taking them out and the back of the hospital, causing the most damage."

"Facing the building would have contained the force of the damage. But the way she parked it-" started Greg.

"Could have given them a chance to get out since the explosion's force would have gone on down the alley." finished Catherine. They stood around the cars, letting the findings sink in when a reptilian growl sounded. Grissom and the others turned to see a velociraptor standing on the hood of Nick's truck. Warrick and the others backed up while Greg and Grissom stood frozen in place. Ricky pulled Sofia out of the way while he drew his gun. Nick grabbed Greg while Kyle yanked Grissom out of the way as the creature jumped off the hood of the car. Two shot gun blasts stopped it in mid air. Nick jerked backwards and fell on his ass. Scooting back farther, he turned to see Marion holding the shot gun and aiming at the dinosaurs head. Only when the creatures eyes signaled that it was dead, did she lower the gun. Kyle used his tongue to grab the top of the door way and launched himself out the door. He rolled and stood up a good fifteen feet away and surveyed the area. He then motion for Ricky to follow, leaving Marion and Sofia to guard the others. Five minutes later, the two of them returned. Grissom and Greg were hovering over the raptor's body.

"The movies made them seem bigger" commented Greg as he reached for one of the claws. Ricky grabbed Greg's arm and hauled him back towards the others. "They're just as deadly as the ones in the movies, and they're Riley's way of letting us know he's here." Grissom tapped at the raptor's head with a wrench and then when it didn't move, petted it with his hand. The raptor was only about a foot and half tall but it's teeth and claws were clearly capable of doing some damage. "This is real?" Kyle nodded grimly as he called for back up. Marion never took her eyes off it.

--

After the scene was taken care of and the dinosaur taken away, the team headed back to school in various states of shock. Sofia headed straight for the guest house where she found Sara and Chris sitting in the living room watching a movie. She walked around and sat next to Sara on the couch and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Whoa. What's going on? Sofia, what happened?" asked Sara as she gently returned the hug. Chris flipped off the tv and waited to hear what happened. A few moments later Sofia leaned back and swiped her eyes with her hand. "Sorry. I guess the bomb and dinosaur finally got to me."

"Wait, what?" Sara was becoming more and more confused and seeing the normally unshakable Sofia so scared gave her a sick feeling.

"Warrick found a pipe bomb half installed under the truck you guys were in. We were looking at it when the Raptor showed up," Sara grabbed her hand while Sofia explained what happened.

"Shit! When Kyle called I knew Riley was involved I didn't know he was there!" exclaimed Chris. Sara turned to look at Chris. "Who is Riley?"

"He's a sociopath. He can create any creature he wants. He's partial to dinosaurs. He loves the Jurassic Park movies. His record goes back to when he was a kid. He would create pets and when his dad wouldn't let him keep them, he'd kill them. His back yard was basically a pet grave yard." Sofia had pulled herself together and turned to face Chris as well. "Why did Kyle call you? He could have called Emma, but instead he called specifically you." Chris sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "I was talking to Sara earlier about how I was institutionalized for my pyrokeneisis. In my last three months there, Riley became a patient there as well. We both got the heavy sedative treatment due to our powers and in his mind it was 'us versus them'. Then he found out I was a Marine and that made me one of 'them'. He sees any form of law enforcement as a threat to his powers. He discovered that he could create dinosaurs since they had been real at one point. Once in between doses, one of his raptors got a hold of an orderly before they were able to sedate him. Ripped the man to pieces. He doesn't like me because I'm one of 'them' even though I've seen what 'they' do to us. Look, I have to go talk to Emma I'll see you later." Chris got up and left and the door slammed shut. Sofia hadn't let go of Sara's hand, so Sara pulled her into another hug. She could feel Sofia mutter into her shoulder. "I started to panic when Warrick showed us the pipe bomb. It's sheer luck that I haven't lost you twice."

"You're forgetting that I nearly lost you today." Sara replied, leaning back and brushing a strand of Sofia's hair out of her eyes. Sofia snorted. "Hardly. Marion had that thing down with two quick shots before I could even blink." Sara placed a gentle kiss on Sofia's lips. As much as she loved the feel of Sofia's lips under hers, she pulled back before it went too far. She smiled when she saw look of desire in Sofia's eyes. She rested her head on Sofia's shoulder and turned the tv back on. "From now on I'll try harder to stay out of trouble." promised Sara. She could feel a rumble of laughter start in Sofia's gut. "Hey! I'm being serious!" she said, giving Sofia a poke in her side. At that point, Sofia lost it and cracked up. "How many times have you made that exact promise to Jim?" Sara gave her a goofy grin. "Well, now I have a better reason to keep my promise. I figure, if I'm still alive, then there's a better chance of you going on an actual date with you once we can go out into the real world again."

"I don't know. I like being up here and not having to worry about being called out on a case at all hours. I mean, the fridge is always stocked, so why wait. We could have a date here one night." said Sofia as she gave Sara a hug around her shoulders. Sara snuggled into her side and hit the play button.

"What are we watching?"

"Transformers. Chris and I were talking about the old cartoon series and I mentioned I hadn't seen the new movie." Sofia gave her a look. "What?"

"Wow, you're a geek."

"I assumed you knew that already" replied Sara with a smug smile. And with that, they settled in for the night.


	13. Ethan

When Sara and Sofia joined the others for breakfast the next morning they could see Chris deep in discussion with Grissom, Jim, Kyle, and Ricky. Judy and Peter came in moments later and while Judy headed straight for Lindsey and Allison, Peter looked a little lost. Sofia called out to him and made a space between her and Sara. He sat in between them and poured some Fruit Loops for himself. Noticing that Sara and Sofia didn't have anything in their bowls yet, he poured some for them too. Sara poured the milk while she asked how he was.

"I'm good. I get to help Emma and Marion pick out stuff for my room today." He seemed more relaxed and found it easier to talk with people. He was talking about a new Star Wars toy that he wanted, but abruptly stopped talking when Grissom and Greg sat down across from them.

"You know, they have a new lightsaber out now that has sound effects." said Greg with a grin. Peter didn't say anything, but his eyes sparked with interest. Greg went on to describe the different colors they came in, when he noticed Sofia giving him a look. "What?"

"Your an even bigger geek than Sara."

"What? No, Sara reads forensic journals on her down time."

"Yeah, that makes me a workaholic. Knowing the newest Star Wars toys makes you a geek."

"No way. It makes me cool, right Peter? These girls just don't know the latest in Jedi technology." He looked towards Sara and Sofia. "And frankly, we find that just sad." Peter laughed. Sara smiled at seeing him act just like an ordinary kid, but the look quickly faded as she noticed Grissom gazing at her intently. Sofia had noticed and was about to say something when Marion came to get Peter. Thankfully, Greg hadn't picked up on anything.

"So what happened to the dinosaur?" Grissom shook his head as his face took on an expression of disbelief. "I sent it to a friend of mine. She wants to know where we found a perfectly preserved raptor." Sofia choked on her juice. She'd hoped it had all been some horrible nightmare. Chris walked over and got the others to crowd around as well. "I talked to Emma and found out that Riley and his brother Ethan have been in as Vegas for the past eight months. We know the kinds of places he likes to use as a base and Ricky is working on finding his newest one." Jim took over at that point.

"Once he does, I want Chris, Sofia, Catherine, Nick, and Warrick out there. I'll comb through files with Sara and Greg until Marion brings Peter over." Grissom nodded. "We need to figure out what makes the child so threatening. We can have the girl use her powers and see what happens when we fiddle with the boy's."

--

Sofia and the others waited for Ricky and Kyle in the labs. Sara walked out of one of the lay out rooms with Brass. Jim went to update the others and left Sara to tell Sofia and Chris. Luckily, she caught up with Sofia in the hallway. "Hey! Brass and I found something. I'm supposed to tell you and Chris, have you seen her?"

"I think she's in the break room." Sara grabbed her arm to keep her still for a minute. "You be sure to take care of yourself out there. I can't ask you out later if you're not around to say yes." They shared a smile and continued towards the break room, neither of them noticing Catherine smiling in a doorway. They walked into the break room to see Nick and Warrick wearing matching looks of amusement. "Hodges and Chris are having a debate." Chris was resting her head on the table in despair as Hodges continued to debate some point with her. Dave stood at the end of the table, looking uncomfortable. "The Air Force is better! They have the Blue Angels" exclaimed Hodges.

"That's the Navy." replied Chris, banging her hand on the table in frustration.

"Top Gun!"

"The Navy!" she said again, with another bang. Hodges looked at David for conformation. "It's true." replied Dave, sounding a bit embarrassed.

"Look, it's not that the Air Force isn't cool, it's just that all your arguments support the Navy." Sofia smirked. Nick just shook his head. "Way to go Hodges. Took you all of thirty seconds to make her dislike you."

"Gotta be a new record." added Warrick as he got up for a coffee refill.

"Look, maybe we should talk about something else." said Chris as she leaned back in her chair.

"Nah, changing the topic won't help. Hodges is always like that." said Nick.

"Well, here's something new. We found out who the cop is." Chris turned to look at Sara. "Officer McKinley-"

"Wait, I know him. He's a mutant. Has the ability to speak any language, even though he hasn't studied it." interjected Sofia.

"That's what's weird. His power wouldn't be effected the way that Chris or Ricky's would. So, instead of an anti-mutant group, it looks like Riley has a cop or cops on the inside." finished Sara.

"Won't be Riley leading 'em." announced Ricky walking in. The rest of the group followed. "Riley doesn't care about anybody. He'll use people until he doesn't need them anymore."

"I thought you said this guy had a brother. He's gotta care about him to be working with him." commented Warrick. Chris shook her head. "His brother has the ability to split himself into multiple copies. He gets into enough trouble on his own. Riley calls on him when he can use him, and Ethan is smart enough to get out before Riley decides to kill him." Grissom looked at Riley's file for a moment. "Sociopaths have a constant need for stimulation and can't empathize with their victims. I can't believe his brother has lasted this long."

"So, Vegas because he can mix in easily, but instead of hitting the casinos he brings his own fun in the form of dinosaurs." stated Catherine. Ricky nodded.

"The scariest part is that someone is using Riley to meet their own goals. Riley wouldn't target Peter, but he wouldn't think twice about attacking me and Sara just because we're law enforcement. No, someone is letting him put things in motion." added Chris.

"Well, let's get goin' then. We checked this spot by satellite and it's clear right now." said Ricky.

--

Nick, Warrick, and Catherine followed Ricky, Chris, and Sofia out to the site. Nick and Warrick rode together while Catherine took another truck. She figured they might as well be prepared. There was no telling how much stuff they would find. Sofia rode with Chris and Ricky.

"So, you got approval to use any means necessary, just like that?" asked Sofia. She turned to face Ricky. "What about all that 'chain of command' thing that you were complaining about?" Ricky smirked. "Somethin' about dinosaurs makes the boys upstairs nervous." Chris leaned forward from the backseat. "Dealing with a guy that could have a T-Rex running down the strip get us approval to use the same materials and tactics we would if we were still Marines in the field. That and we've dealt with him before." That brought Sofia a little comfort. "What did you guys use before?"

"C4 on a T-Rex." replied Ricky. "Saw a clunker in the satellite photo. Figure we can use that." They pulled up to a house that, at one time, had probably been very nice, but years of monsoons and dust storms had away at it. As everyone piled out, Chris opened the back of the car and pulled out two gray bags and walked over to an old car sitting in the dirt area in front of the house. While Ricky cleared the house, Catherine walked towards the front door, but stopped when she noticed Nick watching Chris crawl under the car. "I don't think it runs, Chris." called Nick.

"I don't need it to. I'm just packing a bag of acetone peroxide under here as a precaution." The fact that Chris felt that explosives were necessary brought that nervous feeling back to Sofia's stomach. Catherine nudged her with her shoulder. "With Ricky and Chris covering all their bases, you won't have to worry about making that date." Sofia spun around, her face rapidly turning red. Catherine put a gentle hand on Sofia's shoulder. "The fact that she's telling you she's worried about you is big."

"How did-"

"I overheard you two in the hall. I won't tell anyone, but I just wanted to tell you to hold on tight. With Sara, things are going to be rough." Sofia nodded. Catherine squeezed her shoulder and went on into the house. Walking inside, Sofia cleared her head and focused on the case. Inside the house, there was a mess. "Typical. Guys never know how to use a trash can." said Catherine. There were magazines and food wrappers scattered everywhere. Crumpled sheets of paper covered the floor. Sofia moved towards the kitchen, where numbers were written around a phone attached to the wall. Warrick glanced over his shoulder. "He's got all the local delivery places listed there." Sofia glanced at him. "I used to come out this way sometimes to hang with a friend in his cabin." She nodded and moved into the bedroom. Taking a quick glance around the room, she calls for Chris. Chris came in and took in the room with Sofia. Around the room, in thick permanent marker, were various drawings of dinosaurs. They seemed almost child-like, with their box like shape and exaggerated teeth. From every wall, swarms of bloodthirsty cartoons seemed ready to attack.

"Some sort of message?" asked Sofia. Chris shrugged. "Maybe. He's also probably surrounding himself with his a reminder of his powers. Have his dinos be the first thing he sees when he wakes up..." A knock came from the window. A man was standing outside and waving. Chris grabbed Sofia and pulled her down and yelled for everyone to get down. Gunfire began to hit the front of the house. Nick and the others crawled towards the kitchen, finding cover behind the counter. "He's trying to draw us out. He's just shootin' at the top." Ricky thought for a moment and then shared a look with Chris. She nodded and went out the back door, gun drawn. "You guys have what you collected with you?" asked Ricky.

"Yes." answered Catherine. Ricky nodded. "Okay. Soto and I are going to take care of Ethan. Curtis, you wait a few minutes and you take them out the back." Sofia gave him a quick nod, Ricky took off through the back door. Warrick shook his head. He had gotten used to flying bullets from growing up and from being a CSI. Given the way things were going, he would take bullets over prehistoric creatures any day. Sofia motioned them to follow her out the back. They had parked their cars down the hill. Once they were clear of the house more gunfire erupted and hit the tank on the side of the house. It exploded and set the house on fire. Nick turned to look back and froze. There were at least eight people attacking Ricky and Chris, but they all looked the same. The copies disappeared as soon as they were shot, but more appeared. Nick could hear Warrick and Catherine calling him, but he couldn't make his muscles move. The fight had become more of a brawl at this point with Chris and Ricky still managing to hold their own. A figure could be seen smiling as he walked down a hill that sat on the edge of the property. He had a firm jaw and curly black hair, but it was the look on his face that scared Nick. It looked like he was having fun. Suddenly, a copy appeared in front of him. There was a shot, and a bullet hole appeared in it's forehead before it disappeared. Sofia grabbed his arm and pulled him along. Chris was thrown backwards and as the man got closer, she took a shot at the car's gas tank. It erupted into a huge fireball and the heat wave from the explosion sent the man flying back. Ricky stomped at the ground, sending a concussive force forward, blowing all the copies back. The copies vanished as the man picked himself up and took off down the road. Ricky took off after him but stopped as soon as he heard a car speed away. Chris got up and used her powers to put out the fires. She and Ricky walked over to where the others were waiting be the cars. Nick sat on the bumper of one the trucks talking to Sofia, Catherine and Warrick. He looked up to see Chris looking at him. Her face looked pretty bad. The entire left side was swollen. Catherine saw it and winced.

"You going to be okay/" Chris nodded.

"Just a broken cheek bone. It should be mostly healed by the time we get back. How'd we do?"

"We got out everything we had collected so far. We'll have to wait to see if there's anything left, but I'm pretty sure that fire took care of it." Chris turned towards Nick.

"You okay?" Nick nodded absently.

"As CSIs, we get attacked sometimes, but you shoot them and they're done. Those guys just kept coming."

"That's Ethan for you. Let's get back to the lab." said Ricky as he walked up. He saw Chris's face out the corner of his eye and broke out into a grin. Chris saw, and threw him a puzzled look as she got into the backseat. "What?"

He looked at her in the rearview mirror. "You've got about an hour and a half to come up with an excuse to give Jim to explain the shiner your still gonna have." Chris leaned forward in between Ricky and Sofia to look at her face in the mirror. She slouched back into the backseat and banged her head on the front armrest. "Damn it!" Sofia grinned.


	14. Rachel Watkins

Chris and Sofia made their way towards the break room after writing their reports. They planed to see if they could help out with the evidence but as they passed a room, Chris ducked and tried to hide behind Sofia. Sofia was about to ask her what she was doing, when Jim and Sara walked out into the hall. Sofia turned her head to the side, in an attempt to hide her grin. Sara was confused until she saw Jim grab Chris's chin to look at her face. Jim narrowed his eyes at black bruise on her cheek. "What. Happened."

"Nothing. I fell." Sofia and Sara shared a smile.

"You fell." repeated Jim, his gave never leaving her face as he leaned back and crossed his arms.

"What can I say? I'm clumsy." Jim sighed. They made their way towards the break room. Catherine met them before they got there and pulled them into a layout room. "I was looking at all the papers that we collected from the scene. They're all printed out news articles. Most of them are just stories involving police and mutants, but there are a few of them that are different. Some of these focus around Rachel Watkins." Jim turned around to look at her.

"The Las Vegas Mutant Unit Commander." Sara raised an eyebrow towards Sofia, who quickly explained. "Every state has someone in charge of all the Mutant Unit divisions. They are in charge of knowing who the high level mutants are and who are on the threat lists." Jim shook his head. This was getting out of control. Dinosaurs and copies were bad enough without adding politics to it. "From now on, this is top priority and need to know only."

"Wait. How do we know she's involved? She could be a target." argued Catherine.

"No. McKinley has a bunch of calls going to her before and after we were attacked." said Sara. Greg popped his head into the room. "Hey Sara? The experiment is over, and Peter wants to see you before he goes."

"Uh, okay. Where is he?"

"In the break room." Sara went to the break room, followed by the others. Peter sat in a chair and was spinning around, while Judy played video games Ricky. He smiled when he saw Sara and his smile got even wider when he saw Sofia and Chris. "You owe me dinner." Sara grinned and shook her head.

"Why does she owe you breakfast?" asked Sofia.

"Cause I bet her that Chris would be the only one to come back hurt." Jim chuckled. "Easy money." Chris gave him a shove.

"How about I treat you and your sister to your dinner now? We could go to the diner." Peter nodded. Jim started to leave. "I'm gonna head back to the school." Sara and the others gathered their things and went to the parking garage to stow them while they ate. Chris was joking with Greg as they walked towards the exit. She stopped as she caught sight of the security booth. Talking with the guard stood a man who looked a lot like Ethan except that he had brown hair. Ricky followed her gaze and told the others to run. Riley waved at them and a he smiled as a T-Rex appeared and ate the guard. It let out a ferocious roar. Peter clamped onto Sara's side. Suddenly, as quickly as it had appeared, the T-Rex vanished. Riley spun around trying to figure out what happened. Sara and Sofia followed Chris and Ricky in between the cars. "Head upstairs and to the far stairwell. That one locks from the inside. Then get out of here." whispered Chris. Footsteps could be heard getting closer.

"One of you has a power that you're not telling me about. Now come on that's not fair. Ask Chris. She knows how this is played." A raptor jumped onto the hood of a near by car. "Oh my god."mummered Sara as she backed up with Peter. Sofia had told her about the dinosaurs, but she had still some trouble believing it. Now, seeing the raptor cock it's head at her and hiss, she had no longer had any doubts. A burst of flame brought her out of her shock and had her grabbing Peter and running up to the next floor. She concentrated on following Greg instead of the clack of what sounded like claws on the pavement behind her. The screams of the raptors as they were engulfed in flames followed her. "Come ON _Chris_! They're not like US. They have no powers and are trying to keep us from using ours. NOW you're just getting in the way again. And Ricky, well, you both should know better." Sofia had just closed the door to the stairwell as a scream could be heard. The ground shook and she could feel Judy dig her fingers into her waist. Flames came swirling up to the second level. Although everything had gotten quiet, Sofia and the others made their way down the stairs and out to the street. Down the block, Sofia could see that a bunch of Mutant Officers had arrived to the scene. Jim had come back and gave them all a lift back to the school. Greg went back to the room he was sharing with Ricky, but Judy and Peter wouldn't let go so Sara and Sofia settled into the den in the main house. Sofia settled into the large couch in front of the big screen tv. Sara sat down next to her and Peter settled into her side. Sofia felt Judy snuggle into her side and Sara rest her head on her shoulder. She turned on the tv and let Cosby Show reruns flicker in the background as they all drifted off to sleep. Her last thought before falling asleep was that despite all the chaos of the day, sitting here with Sara felt right. Instead of the nightmares they expected, they all slept soundly.

--

The next morning, Sara and Sofia were sitting in the kitchen alone. Judy and Peter had left sometime that morning to get changed, leaving Sara and Sofia alone. She had woken up to catch Sara watching her, but as soon as had noticed, Sara started to get up. Sofia wrapped her arms around her waist and pulled her back on to the couch. She kissed Sara behind her ear and they had sat there in a comfortable silence until they started to hear the others coming in for breakfast. Now they sat at the counter, sipping their coffee.

"So, how about tonight?" asked Sara, looking deep into her coffee mug. Sofia looked over at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Our date. We could have it tonight." She noticed Sara nervously playing with her cup, and took hold of one of her hands. "That sounds perfect." She leaned in and kissed Sara, neither of them noticed Chris start to open the door and then pull it shut again.

Chris started to back away from door and turned to find Grissom standing there. He motioned with his dishes towards the door. "May I get by?"

Hearing Grissom's voice, Sara broke the kiss and smiled as she got up to rinse her cup. Moments later Grissom came it and after setting his dishes down, put a bunch of ice cubes into a bag. Sara got a curious look on her face. "What's that for?" Grissom gave her a brief glance. "One of the creatures got a hold of Chris's leg in the attack. It seems to have stiffened up on her." Chris came limping into the kitchen and accepted the ice bag. "Thanks. Hey Sofia, can I get a ride in with you?" Seeing that Chris was now fine Grissom left. Sara gave Chris a suspicious look. "Your leg hurts enough that you need ice?" Chris tossed the ice bag on the counter. "He was about to walk in on your make out session. It was either my leg stiffened up or I fall again." Sofia rolled her eyes and patted Chris's shoulder. "While we appreciate your help, I don't think Jim would take hearing that you managed to get hurt again very well. Especially, if it was self inflicted."

--

At the station house, Kyle, Ricky and Chris had just finished going over all their possible leads, when Kyle started to quickly stuff all the news articles away. Lt. Glasser appeared in the door way. "What can we do for you boss?" asked Ricky.

"Commander Watkins is here to check on your progress." Rachel Watkins then stepped forward. "This is a high priority case and I just would like to see how it's coming along." With her long brown hair and pleasant smile she seemed very friendly, but like with any person in power, that only lasted as long as it needed to. As Lt. Glasser left, Kyle explained that they were busy trying to find leads as to the Davenport brothers whereabouts. Rachel nodded and apologized for taking away from their time. Ricky and Kyle left the room and Chris stayed to go over a few more things.

She thought she was alone, and looked up in surprise when the door was shut. Rachel was there with a smile that made her uneasy. "I appreciate all the work you've done on this case. I understand that you've encountered Riley Davenport before and that you don't believe that this is all his doing." Chris sat up straighter in her chair. She knew Watkins was fishing, so she kept her face neutral, her voice respectful, and her emotions in check. She wasn't going to give Watkins a chance to find out anything. "We were under that impression, but given his bold move of attacking in public, we're re-evaluating everything." Rachel nodded and leaned against the opposite wall. "I see. I also heard that there was a dirty cop involved."

"We've been trying to follow that lead but there were thirty officers who took shifts at the hospital, and the Davenports have kept us busy. I haven't had a chance to look into it with much detail."

"Yes, I understand." She fiddled with a ring on her right hand. Chris started to feel a bit short of breath. She stayed calm and tried to take a deep breath. "I also understand that you are a level five mutant." Chris adjusted the necklace around her neck. "You see I've given this some thought. I believe that maybe Riley was set off by something like an anonymously written letter." Chris continued to struggle to breathe. She collapsed to her knees, hitting her head on the corner of the table as she fell. Rachel pulled out a syringe and injected something into Chris's neck. "As you know, there is a mutant war coming. The last thing we need is our own kind holding us back. The boy simply causes too many problems. As for you and your little unit, I feel that you all simply have too much pressure on you, and that transferring this case would be in everyone's best interest. As for the CSIs, they can stay in the dark, it's not like they know anything anyway. So, having presented my theory, I'll let you think about it." Rachel then left, closing the door behind her.

--

Sofia sighed as she went to find Chris. Officer McKinley had been killed outside his apartment. She knocked on the door where she hoped Chris was still working, before going in. "Hey-" Her sentence was cut off as she saw Chris violently convulsing on the floor. There was was blood coming from her nose, ears, and mouth and old scars were appearing all over her skin. Sofia ran to her side as she called for help.


	15. Scars

Under Jim's request, Chris was taken to the school to be placed under Dr. McCoy's care. Sara, Sofia, and Jim waited with Marion to hear about Chris's condition. Sara had driven up after hearing Greg utter the words "Sofia" and "ambulance". When she got to the school, she was relieved to find that Sofia was okay. She drew her into a hug as Sofia quickly explained what had happened. They sat down to wait with Jim, who patted Sofia knee. The only difference between waiting here and at a hospital was the lack of the disinfectant smell, the nervous feeling was the same. Henry came out moments later and nodded to Marion who went to go sit with Chris. The others followed Henry back to Chris's room. She lay in the bed, still unconscious and scars appearing and disappearing all over. "She appears to have been choked." Sofia looked at him in surprise. "Could that cause convulsions and bleeding?" Henry nodded. "The lack of oxygen triggered the seizures and caused her blood to thin, which caused it to come out her ears and nose. The convulsions also made her bang her head against the floor which caused the bruise on the side of her head." Jim sighed and ran his hand over his face. "She'll be okay though?"

"Yes. She should regain consciousness by tomorrow at the latest."

"What about all the scars?" asked Sofia.

"Her ability to heal cancels out her other powers to some degree. Right now her body is using all of it's power to fight off the various drugs that were injected into her system. Her scars will fade again once she has recovered."

"Wait, what injection? Chris is scared to death of needles." asked Jim.

"Yes. That puzzled me as well. There are a number of antipsychotics in her system for some reason."

Sara let it all sink in for a moment before realizing something. "Where are Ricky and Kyle? Why aren't they here?" Jim sighed and made sure Marion was listening. "I had them stay at the station. Rachel Watkins came in and checked on the case's progress. Chris wouldn't have told her anything and that pissed her off. This is probably her way of giving us a warning."

"She also got rid of Officer McKinley." added Sofia. Lindsey came running down towards them only to be stopped by Henry's giant hand. "I have to get Marion! It's an emergency!"

"What's wrong?" asked Marion, as she reluctantly got up.

"There are some men here that are trying to take Judy and Peter! They say they have court orders." Marion took off with Sofia and Sara right behind her. Reaching the main hall Marion saw two men trying to get a hold of Judy and Peter. As Marion raced over, she raised her hand towards them and sent the men flying backwards. Sara stopped in surpise. Until now, Marion had seemed friendly, but very reserved. From what Jim had told them, she knew that Marion was powerful, but she hadn't quite believed it since she came of as more of a diplomat than an ex-sniper. Peter raced to hide behind Sara and Sofia, while Judy stood behind Marion. The men stood up and made their way back over to them. "Agents Johnson and Bradshaw. What you just diid, I would call assaulting an officer." Marion didn't miss a beat. "I would call it protecting my students. Now, state your purpose or leave."

"We have orders to remove Judy and Peter Hathaway to a state facility." He handed the papers to Marion and made to grab Judy's wrist, only to have Marion shove him back, this time with her hand. She quickly skimmed the papers before handing them back.

"Look, Ms.-"

"These orders are address to Emma Frost, who left for Boston last night. It is my understanding that you must show these orders to _her_ before being able to remove the children." She raised her voice as Agent Johnson got ready to interrupt. "Either I get orders from her to release the children, or you come back with a different warrant. Until then, the children will remain here." Agent Johnson made another attempt to grab Judy, only to run into an invisible wall. "Miss, you are interfering-"

"No, you are attempting to kidnap children from their home. Now, get off the property or I will have someone escort you off." She turned and lead Judy to the den to sit with Lindsey and Allison. "I'll take care of this you guys, don't worry." She turned towards Sara and Sofia, but Sofia cut her off before she could ask. "We'll watch over Chris until you're done."

--

The others had stopped in at various points to check on Chris, but Sara and Sofia stayed with her most of the night. Marion was on the phone with Emma, trying to get all the scholarship and other forms taken care of overnight to establish Judy and Peter as permanent residents. Jim had stayed until he had seen the second bullet scar appear on Chris's forehead. Seeing all of the various scars had Sara thinking about some of here own. Sofia had come back with dinner from the kitchen and they had moved to the end of the room to eat.

"I'm not sure I can make us work." Having come out of nowhere, the statement startled Sofia into a coughing fit. "Why not? It's going pretty well so far." Sara nodded, but shifted nervously in her seat.

"I know we're comfortable together, but that's just right now. Once we're not staying here and things are back to normal...well, I will be too."

"So this isn't you." Sara sighed in frustration.

"It _is_, but it's me stress free. And as you know, our jobs are never stress free."

"Sweetheart, we were both nearly attacked by prehistoric creatures. Nothing about that is normal, and we're still doing okay." Sofia looked at her hands for a moment. "Do you... do you not want a relationship?"

"No, no, no. I do. It's just that I'm not very good at them."

"Well, then let's just see how this goes first. If it means we just keep hanging out for a while, that's fine. There's no reason to rush things." Sara looked relieved and held Sofia's hand.

"What made you start thinking about all of this?" Sara sighed and looked at Chris.

"In the short time that we've known Chris, she's managed to get hurt on the job everyday. I don't think I cold handle it if that happened to you."

"For Chris this is pretty normal, actually." said Marion from the door way. Sara and Sofia turned to look at her. "Sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but it's always been like this." She smirked a little. "Even when we were little, when Chris got hurt on the playground a teacher would come tell me first, since they had to find out who's parents to call since she stayed with us when her parents traveled. Don't get me wrong, I'm always worried, but for Chris if she wasn't getting hurt in the field, she'd slip or something." Sara's eyebrows rose to her hairline.

"She wasn't kidding when she said she was clumsy." Marion took on a contemplative expression for a moment. "Dedicated, more than clumsy. She'll go the extra mile to complete a mission. If that means willing putting herself between you and a raptor, she'd do it."

"That's either extreme dedication or stupidity." Marion shrugged. "Little of both. The stupidity comes in when she uses duct tape to treat a sprained ankle and then continues to hike another five miles." Marion shook her head clear. "My point is that, she knows her limits. She'll step in front of the bullet because she knows she'll survive it. I figure Sofia won't take on a dinosaur unless it's going to attack you." She sat down to take over watch and bid Sara and Sofia goodnight.

--

Sara and Sofia had changed into their sleep clothes and were getting ready to turn in for the night, but something was still bugging Sofia. She found Sara making a cup of tea in the kitchen. "Sara, was there anything else bothering you?" Sara sighed and set her cup down. "Sofia, who do you have listed as your emergency contact?"

"My mom."

"Since I started working when I was sixteen, my emergency contact has always been my boss. At CSI I list Grissom at first, because he was the only person I knew. I later had it changed to Jim." She handed another cup of tea to Sofia and went to sit down. "I'm not used to having someone there for me."

"Sara, I also have Jim listed as my emergency contact. I've given Jim instructions to only call my mom if I'm dying or if he deems the situation mom worthy." Sara was unable to keep the smile from creeping on to her face. "Mom worthy?"

"Any situation where a hug from mom would be desperately needed." replied Sofia, without a hint of embarrassment.

"Yeah. I'm not one for mom hugs. I guess feeling this comfortable with someone makes me feel... uncomfortable. Never mind, this is dumb." Sofia quickly grabbed Sara's hand before she could leave. "It just means we have to work at it." She gave her a smile. "You may not have noticed, due to how busy we've been, but I like spending time with you." Sara gave her usual sarcastic smirk to Sofia's teasing. "Then I guess we should give it a shot." she said, and gave Sofia a kiss before going to bed.


	16. Warrants

Chris woke up the next day, surprised to find sitting next to her. After calling her name a few times, Chris nudged her knee to get her attention. Sara nearly leapt out of her chair. "So, how are you?" asked Chris. Sara raised an eyebrow as she tried clean up the water she had spilled on her knees. "Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Chris shrugged. "Now that I'm awake, I'll be okay in a while. I'm not the one finding hidden meanings in water bottles." That managed to get a smirk out of Sara. "I'm nervous about this whole relationship thing." She decided that she could trust Chris with her past, and told her about her mother and the theory about a murder gene. Chris smirked and gave a dark chuckle, making Sara regret sharing. She was just about to leave when Chris turned to her. "Pyrokinesis takes years of training to use. As you know, a person's emotions play a large part in learning how to control their powers. I have all the pockets in my pants replaced with fire proof material in case I feel myself loosing control." She turned and looked Sara in the eye. "When you have a dangerous ability like fire, you learn that your power is the hardest to control when you're angry. You have to be careful because the urge to go with that anger is very tempting when you're being provoked, or you'd be _so_ happy to wipe that smile off some asshole's face. It creeps up on you and sometimes gets so out of control that you can't even see straight. That's what happens with an abuser. They just go with that impulse. Some people take precautions to keep it from going off and others just go with it." Sara sat in thought for a moment before turning to Chris. "And what do you think is my equivalent to replacing my pockets?"

"You trust Sofia enough to let her in. You come and hang out with me. Keeping it bottled up would either kill you or set it off eventually." Sara arched an eyebrow and gave her a skeptical expression. "So you're saying you still could just lose it and go off. Thanks for the pep talk." Chris rolled her eyes. "Look. In all honesty, having Marion to come home and talk to keeps me from losing it. Being able to unload on someone that you know is always going to be there, no matter how much of a wreck you are. Try it with Sofia." Sara gave her a sideways smile. "That's how you tell if someone is special?" Chris gave her an empathetic nod. "Anyone that is still willing to hang out with you after you've had dumpster duty, is a keeper."

--

Sara ran into Sofia as she left the medical bay, and pulled her aside. "I was wondering if we could talk-" She noticed the scared look on Sofia's face, and grabbed her shoulders. "There are just somethings I'd like to tell you. Because I want to. Not because you're concerned like Grissom, or mothering like Catherine. I know you know things about me from your investigation, but I'd like to tell you about me myself." Sofia gave Sara a long look before pulling her into a passionate kiss. The moment was broken as Jim went racing into Chris's room with Henry. Sofia didn't let go of Sara's hand as they turned to see what was going on. Jim seemed to be trying to keep Chris calm as he explained something. Chris had just changed out of the hospital gown and was pulling out her iV as four men came in. Sofia recognized Agents Johnson and Bradshaw from the day before.

"Christiana Soto, we have orders to place you in a metal institution for evaluation." Chris glared at Bradshaw, and Sara noticed her stuffing her hands into her pockets. "On what grounds?"

"Your history with both of the suspects is troubling. Seeing as how you met Riley Davenport in a metal institution, makes your mental status a concern. You can see how having a person with such powerful abilities and in a questionable mental state, might be cause for alarm."

"I'm _fine_." replied Chris in a dark tone.

"Your panic attack at the station and the presence of antipsychotics in your system would indicate otherwise. You will be placed at a facility for further evaluation." Two of other men grabbed Chris. Despite her yelling and struggling, they managed to hold her down while Agent Bradshaw injected something into her arm. Henry grabbed the man by his front and held him against the wall. "How dare you come in here and give her something without checking. If you wish to administer something to my patient, then check with me, her doctor, first." The man had looked startled for a moment, then resumed his stoic demeanor. "I gave her fifty milligrams of Thorazine, her standard dose." Henry set him down and watched as the two other men placed her on a gurney and then added restraints. Jim's argument with Agent Johnson came to a stop as Johnson raised his voice even louder. "Detective Brass, I understand that you are her guardian, but Ms. Soto is past the age of 21. In any case, a Mr. Gibbs was her guardian when she was previously institutionalized. We have made an effort to contact him, but have not gotten any response. If you would like, you may visit her at the facility." He then pushed past Jim and followed the gurney out. Jim had his phone out in seconds. "Gibbs, you get on a plane and get out here fast. Chris is in trouble." Sofia didn't notice Jim walking away as she watched the men roll Chris away. She became aware of the death grip Sara had on her arm, and tried to reassure her. "Jim will figure something out, don't worry." Thinking that someone should tell Marion, they went up stairs to find her. They were greeted with another mess. Agent Bradshaw was there handing a warrant to Marion, who tossed it back in his face. "The only grounds you have to remove them would be charges of abuse or neglect and there are none."

"Or if there is another relative available. Which in this case, there is." Sofia got a call on her cell as she watched Judy and Peter be escorted outside. She hung up moments later and pulled Sara with her to her car. "What's going on?"

"That was Kyle. He says that they have the Uncle down at the station and will let me talk to him." They rode in silence. The extent of Rachel Watkin's power sent a chill down Sofia's spine.

--

Sara's mind was spinning. She was trying to keep herself from falling into her usual pessimistic thoughts, but it was hard. "What's going to happen to Ricky and Kyle?" Sofia gave her a quickly glance, but the worried look never left her face. "I don't know. Watkins went to great lengths to get Chris out of the way and was careful to keep it from being linked to her. But I don't think that she knows that we've been kept in the loop. Having me interview him keeps the investigation open without drawing suspicion." She reached over and squeezed Sara's knee. Sara tried to muster up a convincing smile but failed. She slammed her head into the headrest in frustration, only to be reminded of her still healing bruise. "I'm sorry. I'm trying to stay positive but look at our case! Our two main witnesses have been carted off to places unknown and I can guarantee that Watkins won't let us talk to them because it won't let them 'heal'. And the person who knows the most about the suspects has now been involuntarily committed."

"We are still on this case though. I'm betting that she thought there would be the usual bull shit between departments and that Chris and the others played it close to the vest, leaving us out, and that works to our advantage."

--

At the station Sara watched the interview with Catherine from behind the glass. Nathan Hathaway hadn't shaved in a while and clearly had had better days. His eye warily followed Sofia as she sat down across from him. "We found your DNA at the scene of your brother and his wife's murder. Want to explain how it got there?" Nate leaned back in his chair, trying to appear nonchalant, but his constant fidgeting said otherwise. "I was over at their place a lot. I mean he was my brother."

"So how did your hair wind up in a pool of their blood?" Nate was becoming more and more agitated. "Look, it wasn't supposed to happen the way it did. There are these Russian-"

"We already know it wasn't the Russians. Try again." He ran a hand over his face before slamming it on the table. Sofia didn't even flinch. "Some guys asked me about my mutie nephew. Jeff should have just stayed out of the way. I mean I'm standing there with a metal man and this other guy and he says no? And the one guy, all he does is stand there and smile. Then he just starts shooting!"

"So after your brother and his wife were killed, you just left the kids there."

"I didn't see them so figured they weren't there. I just want to look out for them now." Sofia leaned back in her chair and gave him a look that said she wasn't buying his story. "Hm. Well, we went by your place after we found them. We couldn't find you. Seeing how you waited days before expressing your concern, why don't you tell me why you brought some guys you just met to meet your nephew." Nate let out a sad chuckle. "Look, these guys were going to give me twenty grand. I need the money. I had some bad luck at the tables. If I can get the kid to them I'll get forty. I don't see what the big deal is, he's just a mutant kid!" Sofia could feel her blood start to boil. "He's your family!" Nate slammed his hands down and stood up, knocking the chair over. "NO! No he's not! Neither one of them are! I don't have any mutant blood in me!" Two officers came in from the hall to take him back to his cell. Sofia walked out into the hallway and spotted Ms. Watkins waiting for her. "Detective Curtis, how is your investigation coming?" Sofia gave her a tired smile. "It's over for the most part. The Mutant Unit took control of the scene, our only role was finding out what happened to the Uncle. It seems he was selling his nephew."

"How tragic."

"Yeah. Well, at least the kids are free of him. From what Chris said, they were happy at the school."

"Well, we shall see. I was under the impression that you and the CSIs were staying at the school. Didn't you see them?" Sofia rolled her eyes. "I think it was their way of making sure we didn't interfere. Now that we know that Soto was just being paranoid, we're all going back to our regular lives. Unfortunately, the kids will need to testify against him at trial. Do you know where they'll be staying? The sooner I get their statements, the sooner I can be done with this whole stupid case." Sara chose that moment to come and get Sofia. "Hey, Vega wants us to meet him at a 419 on the strip." Rachel smiled at Sofia. "I'll let you get back to work then. I'll leave the information on your desk" Sara and Sofia watched her walk away. Sofia darted into the bathroom and washed her face and hands. "God, I feel dirty just from talking to her. That is one manipulative bitch." Sara handed her bunch of paper towels. "So, now what?"

"Now we go eat lunch."


	17. Vacation in Vegas

At Sofia's request, Sara drove them to Taco Bell while Sofia made a few quick phone calls. Taco Bell wasn't really Sara's thing, but as she pulled up, she spotted Kyle and Riley sitting at one of the outdoor tables with the rest of the team. After getting their food, they went and sat with the others. "So where are you guys on this?" asked Kyle around a large bite of burrito. Catherine wiped her mouth. "I called Marion after the interview and let her know about the Uncle. She's doing her best to get Judy and Peter back." Nick tried to get the very last bit of soda out of bottom of his cup. "I'm testifying later today about the evidence. Hopefully, that will be enough to get the kids back to the school." Sofia shook her head and summed up her conversation with Watkins. "She's being very careful, and the school is an environment she can't control."

"I've been going over all the phone records from Riley's house. A lot of phone calls were made from a internet cafe just out of Vegas. I checked out their surveillance footage and we can place her car there." added Warrick. Greg struggled to keep his taco together. "What's happening to Chris?" Sofia sighed. "Jim's been taken off the case, since he's her guardian. He did make a call to Special Agent Gibbs in DC, who is flying down to see if she can be released into his care. Since we're not family, they won't allow us to see her." Grissom had listened to everything, but something didn't fit. "Sara, you analyzed all the different drugs in her system. Is there any way to tell how long any of them had been in her system?" Sara set down her bean burrito and leaned forward with an expression of disbelief. "This kid's regeneration powers are all that kept her alive. She had Chlorpromazine, Haloperidol, Risperidone, Clozapine, and Benztropine in her system. All five of those drugs simultaneously and at the max doses, should have killed her. Figuring out when they were injected is nearly impossible since the drugs have half lives ranging from three hours to thirty-six hours." Nick checked his watch and said a quick goodbye as he left for court. Greg turned towards Ricky and Kyle. "Why isn't she going after you guys?" Kyle unwrapped another taco. "As you probably gathered from Jim, Chris is the most impulsive one of us."

"Making her the most likely to disobey orders." guessed Grissom.

"Right. I mean, Ricky and I will tag along for the ride once she does, but generally we won't start something."

"So now they got us workin' desks, going through all of local hospital records for any mutants that have been treated for a power related wound." grumbled Ricky. "Least Gibbs is comin'. He'll sort all of this shit out."

--

When the work day ended Sofia had driven with Sara back to the guest house. Sara needed some alone time and thankfully, Sofia had seemed to sense this. After gathering her thoughts for a few hours, she left her room and found Sofia reading in the living room. She stood in the doorway for moment and just watched her. She was reading Chris's copy of Fight Club. Her hair was down, falling over her shoulders and her face held an expression of confusion and interest that Sara found adorable. She took a deep breath and sat down on the couch across from her. "How's the book?" Sofia marked her page and turned to face her. "Very...odd but, intriguing." Seeing that Sofia wasn't going to rush her, put her at ease. "I don't usually trust very easily. For some reason, I trusted Chris from almost the beginning even though I just met her. I've told her things that I would normally just keep bottled up. I can't exactly explain why, but I've been talking to her a lot. I figure since, she's been right about most things, I should follow her advice." Sara took a deep breath and gathered her courage. "I love the guys, but I can't talk to them about everything. If I go to Catherine, I get a lot of mothering. With Grissom, I get everything I've said analyzed and then he remembers it and stows it away for later. With Chris, she'll just listen and give advice only if I ask for it." She took a deep breath before continuing. "The only other person I've ever felt that comfortable with is you. You don't hide yourself from people, neither of you do, and I find that refreshing. You know when to let me be and when I need someone, even if I don't know it. I like the fact that I don't have to hide from you, but... making myself this vulnerable is very hard for me." Sofia moved over to the sofa next to her, but waited for Sara's nod before pulling her into a hug. "I think you find Chris easy to talk to because she understands you better than the rest of us, since she's been there. She saw her parents die, and she sees the looks people give her when they see her powers and sees it turn into fear when people know about her being institutionalized. She knows that sympathy isn't what you need, but it's the only thing the rest of us know to offer." Sofia leaned back to lie down and pulled Sara with her. "Do you what first made me interested in you?" She could feel Sara shake her head against her shoulder. "I saw your file during my investigation, and expected to find an emotionally detached pessimist. Instead, I found an very dedicated and caring person who had overcome her past."

"And you found that attractive?"

"That along with your beautiful face and amazing body." She could feel Sara's blush as she buried it in her neck. "I still have my bad days though. I still push people away and worry about the murder gene-" She was cut off by Sofia's snort. "If there were a murder gene, you would have killed Ecklie by now. God knows the rest of us have been tempted." Sara leaned against the back of the couch to look in Sofia's eyes. "So you don't believe in it?"

"No. I mean, we can argue nature versus nurture, but it comes down to choice." Sara settled back down and Sofia ran her hand up and down her back. "I know that there will be hard days, and I'd like to be there to help you through them." Sara couldn't remember the last time she felt this comfortable with someone. Actually, she couldn't remember the last time that she'd let someone hold her either. She felt Sofia's phone vibrate and started to get up, but Sofia held her in place while she unclipped it and answered. "Hello? Oh, good. We will see you in a few minutes." She flipped it shut and set it on the coffee table. "That was Gibbs. He and three friends hitched a ride on a flight to a Naval base in Fallon." It looked like Ricky had been right when he said that Gibbs would fix things, but Sara was still worried. "Watkins is going to say that Chris was self medicating and use her powers against her." Sofia sat up and offered Sara her hand. "They're meeting us in the library."

--

On the way to the library, they saw Kyle nearly tackled by a woman in pigtails dressed in gothic clothing. "Oh, I'm so happy to see you!" Kyle spotted Sara, Sofia, who were joined by Grissom and Catherine, and tried to remove the arms that were hugging him to death. "I'd like you to meet my sister, Abby." Abby straightened up and waved. "We've heard about you at forensic conferences. Where did you study?" asked Grissom as he shook her hand. Sara saw the spider tattoo on her neck as Abby bounced up and down, and made a mental note to be there when she met Greg. "Well, I triple majored in sociology, psychology, and criminology at LSU, but I got my master's in criminology and forensic science from Georgia State. You guys have _got_ to let me visit your lab tomorrow!" She led the group into the library. A man was talking with Jim in the corner of the room. Sofia couldn't help but smirk at them, by their stance it was very clear that they were both ex-Marines. The men turned towards Abby as she made quick introductions. "Abs, you look over Chris's blood work?"

"Yeah" She paused, noticing Sara's angry expression. "I wasn't checking your work, I was just checking it over her past records." She turned back towards Gibbs. "Sara's analysis proves that this lady did her homework. Chris was given all these drugs the first time she was institutionalized, but at the proper doses and not all at once. Watkins put her on the max dose, which rushed them through her system but also did the most damage. It will take time for her brain to recover."

"Time we don't have, Abs. After we hit the casinos, there won't be much left of the week." Sofia was just as confused as everyone else at the change in topic, but understood when there was a knock from the doorway. There stood Henry with Rachel Watkins. Rachel walked in and smiled. "Special Agent Gibbs, Ms. Sciuto, Dr. Mallard. What brings you to Las Vegas?" Gibbs relaxed into an armchair. "Well, Abby wanted to see her brother and visit your high tech lab and Ducky and I thought we might tag along and see our old buddy Jim."

"I was under the impression that there was one more person with you. Why would you bring a Mossad liaison officer with you?"

"Well, she's close friends with Chris and she's never seen Vegas before. We're trying to expand her horizons." Rachel's face tightened but she nodded and kept smiling. "Well, I hope you all enjoy your stay. I was just visiting the place where the Hathaway's had been staying before allowing them to return tomorrow." She turned and Henry escorted her out. "That is one evil lady." muttered Abby. Ricky walked in with Greg, Warrick, and Nick. "What was she doin' here?"

"Checking us out." replied Gibbs.

"Hey where is Ziva?" asked Kyle.

"I have her guarding Chris. With this much attention, Watkin's knows that she should get rid of her before I go to court and pull her out tomorrow."

--

After coming up with a strategy, the group broke up for the evening. Greg had promised to do something with the guys, otherwise he'd still be talking to Abby. Sara had felt threatened by Abby at first, but once she sat with her, it was hard not to like her. Her sweet personality and cheery demeanor were nice, but what got Sara was the fact that Abby was just as big a science geek as she was. They had talked to Abby for three hours before deciding to head back to the house. The conversation had also made her fall in love with Sofia a little more. When she talked science with Jim, his eyes tended to glaze over and Grissom not only already knew about whatever she'd just found out, but had a piece of trivia to go with it. Sofia on the other hand, used to be a CSI and still found the science behind things interesting. As she got into bed, she couldn't help but think that getting used to having someone there for her wasn't going to be as hard as she had thought.


End file.
